Channel crossings in 2024 hit 19,000 as fresh set of migrants arrive in UK
A group of people thought to be migrants arrive on the beach in Dungeness, Kent
PA
The scale of the migrant crisis facing the new Labour Government has been laid bare, as GB News can confirm more than 19,000 small boat migrants have now crossed the English Channel this year.
The grim milestone was reached on Saturday after more than 450 people crossed from France.
Throughout the day, with flat calm conditions, people smugglers pushed out at least 9 small boats from the French coast.
Border Force intercepted the last illegal migrant boat this evening. And have taken dozens of people to the main migrant processing centre at Dover harbour.
A group of people thought to be migrants arrive on the beach in Dungeness, KentPAJust after 11am, the Border Force vessel Ranger arrived in Dover with the first group for migrants.
GB News Kent producer counted 54 people taken off the Ranger and escorted to the nearby Border Force migrant facility.
Two hours later ,Ranger landed back in Dover, this time carrying 42 migrants.
Half an hour after that, the Border Force vessel Defender docked at the Kent port with 135 people on board, who are believed to have come from three separate migrant boats.
Keir Starmer
PAThroughout the afternoon and into the evening, more Border Force vessels arrived with at least 200 more migrants.
Windy conditions over recent days had prevented migrant crossings, since 107 people made the illegal journey on Wednesday.
As well as passing 19,000 for the year so far, GB News can reveal that around 5,500 migrants have now made the illegal crossing since Labour came to power early last month.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer scrapped the previous Government's Rwanda deterrent scheme on his first day in office.
Migrant crisis
PAHe described the plans to send small boat migrants to the East African nation as a "gimmick".
Instead, Labour plans to go after the people smugglers, but has yet to recruit a senior figure to run its new Border Security Command.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We all want to see an end to dangerous small boat crossings, which are undermining border security and putting lives at risk.
"The new Government is taking steps to boost our border security, setting up a new Border Security Command which will bring together our intelligence and enforcement agencies, equipped with new counter-terror style powers and hundreds of personnel stationed in the UK and overseas, to smash the criminal smuggling gangs making millions in profit."