Migrant crisis: First asylum seekers since Labour scrapped Rwanda scheme arrive in UK

The boat is the first to successfully make the crossing since 85 migrants arrived in two dinghies on July 1.

Recent newspaper reports had suggested large numbers of migrants where massing along the French coast, waiting for a Starmer government before crossing.

The last Conservative government had claimed Labour's decision to scrap the Rwanda plan, to send asylum seekers to the East African nation, would act as a pull factor for those intending to come to the UK.

However, maritime sources have told GB News that the only thing stopping migrants crossing in the past week was the weather.

Strong winds and occasional heavy rain have made conditions in the English Channel impassable for the flimsy migrant boats.

The weather improved overnight, paving the way for calmer conditions and allowing the people smugglers to start launching small boats again.

The first migrant boat on Monday was escorted across the Channel by a French border patrol vessel and met at the halfway way point by the Border Force catamaran Hurricane.

Those onboard are being taken to the Border Force processing centre at Dover Harbour.

The first small boat arrivals of the new government come as Labour confirmed that its new Border Security Command was being set up from today.

The Government says the new agency will have millions of pounds of extra resources, diverted from the Rwanda scheme.

It will bring together Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, the National Crime Agency and the intelligence services with the aim of "smashing the people smuggling gangs."