More than 30,000 small boat migrants arrive in UK since Labour came to power in major blow to Keir Starmer's 'smash the gangs' pledge

Today saw the eighth straight day of crossings, with around 1,900 arriving at the Border Force processing centre in Dover since last Thursday.

The grim milestone figure piles more pressure on the Prime Minister to bring in a deterrent scheme, like the previous Government’s Rwanda policy.

That plan to send small boat migrants to the East African nation for processing was scrapped by Sir Keir Starmer on his first day in office.

Sir Keir branded the Rwanda scheme a "Tory gimmick" and promised to introduce a law enforcement approach that would concentrate on going after the people smuggling gangs.

Labour created a Border Security Command and diverted millions of pounds, previously allocated for the Rwanda scheme, to the new Command.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• Bev erupts as biggest asylum hotel provider records staggering profits - 'Everyone is so stupid!'
• Nearly 6,000 migrants cross Channel so far this year as numbers see 36% rise compared to last year
• Migrant hotels will stay open for YEARS, Treasury admits - as hoteliers rake in 'record profits'

But maritime security sources have told GB News that law enforcement without a deterrent alongside is "doomed to failure."

One senior source said: "No one expected instant results from the push against the criminal gangs.

"But we're almost nine months down the track, and we'd certainly expect to see even a modest impact on gang activity by now.

"Instead, what we're seeing is record numbers crossing the Channel, there's been no slowdown in small boat activity, quite the opposite."

So far this year, more than 6,100 Channel boat migrants have made the illegal journey to the UK.

That figure is 40 per cent up on the 4,306 who had crossed at the same point last year.