Figures from the Home Office show an influx of arrivals crossing the English Channel in small boats this week.
On Tuesday, the highest number of people on a single day so far this year crossed the channel.
Some 882 people were detected crossing the channel in 15 boats, suggesting an average of 59 people per boat.
This pushes the cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 to stand at 12,313.
This graph shows the number of people crossing the English Channel in small boats in the last three years
PA
This is 18 per cent higher than the same point last year, which was 10,472, and 5 per cent higher than the total in 2022, which was 11,690.
Rishi Sunak claimed there would always be some days “worse than others” when it comes to channel crossings.
Immigration is a key topic of the general election with Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK dubbing it the "immigration election."
When asked why people should trust the current prime minister with immigration issues following the highest number of crossings in a single day, Sunak said: "In the last 12 months the numbers of people crossing the channel is actually down almost a third.
An inflatable dinghy carrying around 65 migrants crosses the English Channel Getty
“That hasn’t happened before and it shows that we can make a difference. That is what I have been focused on doing.”
He added: “There is always going to be days which are worse than others, but the choice at this election is about how do we solve this problem for good.
“I have got a plan to do that and that is about getting a deterrent up and running, removing the incentive for people to come here.
“It is as simple as that, if people come here illegally they shouldn’t be able to stay. We need to remove them somewhere else and if we can get that up and running then people will stop coming, and multiple other European countries agree with us.”
In 2023, there were 29,437 arrivals which was down 36 per cent from a record 45,774 in 2022.
