A record 107 small boat migrants have reached Britain in just one dinghy, confounding Labour’s pledge to ‘smash the gangs’.
Images from the port of Dover this morning showed human traffickers have begun to deploy a new, longer type of inflatable.
The inflatable vessel, which barely qualifies as a ‘small boat,’ was retrieved from the Channel and transported to Dover, where it was scrutinized by Border Force and law enforcement, according to a report by GB News.
It brought 107 migrants to Britain overnight, smashing the previous record of 96 people aboard one inflatable.
The appearance of the larger type of dinghy further undermines Labour’s decision to concentrate on law enforcement responses to ‘smash the gangs’.
As one of his inaugural actions in office, Sir Keir Starmer eliminated the prior Conservative administration’s Rwanda asylum scheme, just as it was on the verge of implementation.
The purpose of the Rwanda scheme was to make Channel crossings futile, by redirecting migrants to Rwanda to apply for asylum there, instead of in the UK.
People smugglers are now utilizing a new, larger type of inflatable boat. This vessel, intercepted in the Channel by the UK Border Force, was carrying an unprecedented 107 individuals—setting a record—and was brought to the Port of Dover during the night.
On Monday alone there were 474 Channel arrivals, pushing the total past 50,000 since Labour came to power.
There were thought to have been at least 400 more yesterday but official numbers have not yet been confirmed by the Home Office.
Migrants were seen sprinting into the surf at Gravelines beach, northern France, to get aboard a smugglers’ taxi boat
Migrants, mostly male, scrambled to get aboard the inflatable, pictured off Gravelines beach in France yesterday
Small boat arrivals so far this year are up 47 per cent on the same period last year, hitting record levels of more than 27,000.
The deployment of larger boats by migrants raises significant concerns for UK officials, who have allocated substantial resources toward efforts to dismantle traffickers’ operations.
The migrants then set off for the UK, as the number to have reached Britain since Labour came to power topped 50,000
One maritime security source told GB News: ‘This is highly alarming.
‘It looks like the smuggling gangs have specified larger boats, which we know are designed and built in back street factories in China.
‘Bigger boats mean bigger numbers of arrivals, at a time when we’re already seeing record numbers crossing from France.
‘If we are witnessing the advent of a new, larger migrant boat, this is the worst possible news for those attempting to smash the gangs.’
Migrants were later seen disembarking at Dover after being picked up mid-Channel by UK Border Force
Last month, Labour’s Border Security Commander, Martin Hewitt, announced that the seizure of 25 dinghies in Bulgaria, as part of an operation with Britain’s National Crime Agency, represented a ‘significant advancement in our collaborative efforts to disrupt the supply chain that feeds these hazardous small boat crossings.’
Earlier this week large groups of migrants were seen sprinting into the surf off Gravelines beach, between Calais and Dunkirk, in a bid to get aboard a boat to Britain.
A ‘graveyard’ of used migrant dinghies pictured near Dover earlier this year
From first light, as French police stood and watched and a navy vessel patrolled off the coast, scores waded into the water to clamber onto a taxi boat that appeared just off shore.
The government’s much trumpeted ‘returns deal’ with France appears to have done little to deter those determined to get to Britain, with at least 1,500 arrivals in the week since the ‘one in, one out’ scheme launched.
PM Sir Keir Starmer scrapped the Tories’ Rwanda asylum scheme as one of his first acts in office
Former Labour Home Secretary Baroness Jacqui Smith – now an education, women and equalities minister under Sir Keir – yesterday blamed the Conservatives for the activity of smuggling gangs on the Continent.
‘It is a completely legitimate claim to say that that is because what is happening is the result of the last government that chose to focus on gimmicks with the Rwanda scheme,’ she said.
Asked on Sky News if the crossings were not Labour’s fault, Lady Smith went on: ‘We are taking responsibility. I don’t believe it is our fault that it was enabled to take root in the way in which it has done by a government who failed to do what was necessary at that point.
‘The last government enabled this hideous criminal activity to really get its roots into across Europe.
‘There was a lengthy period, at the time, in which the criminal gangs, the criminal masterminds, the organised crime who are behind this, had the opportunity to have this operation set up and really embedded.
‘And that’s the task that this Government now has, to deconstruct that.’
But her attempt to evade responsibility was met with incredulity.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘The government has now confirmed that 50,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the Channel in Labour’s short time in power, the worst crisis in our history.
‘Labour has surrendered our borders, and the consequences are being felt in our communities, from rising crime to shocking cases of rape and sexual assault by recent arrivals.
‘Labour has scrapped Conservative deterrents and created the conditions for chaos, leaving the British people to foot the bill.’
