Nigel Farage has blasted Labour shortly after the annual migrant death toll reached 55 earlier today.
The Reform UK leader, who received 4.1 million votes on July 4 after slamming Rishi Sunak for the Tories' handling of the migrant crisis, returned to the English Channel today to cover the latest wave of arrivals.
In a video released shortly after a migrant died off the coast of France, Farage said: "55 deaths in the Channel so far this year. Makes no difference.
"There's the French naval vessel. To the left of it, a dinghy, you can probably see the orange life jackets.
Farage blasts Labour as Channel crossings soar as death toll reaching 55NIGEL FARAGE"And this just goes on and on. Stop the boats. Smash the gangs. Not a cat's chance in hell.
"Just this week, someone who came here in July put a screwdriver through the neck of a young girl working in a migrant hotel.
"This, folks, is dreadful. Well, there you are, mission accomplished. You can see a French naval vessel, behind that you can see a Border Force vessel, and that's it.
"They've arrived and they'll never be leaving. Not any of them."
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A stock image of migrants crossing the ChannelPAFarage's comments came shortly after a migrant died when a dinghy deflated in the English Channel.
It also followed GB News' exclusive report which revealed that the number of Channel crossings had already exceeded last year's total.
The grim milestone figure was reached on Friday afternoon when a Border Force vessel arrived at Dover harbour with 55 migrants onboard.
That took the total number of Channel migrants who have made illegal crossing this year to 29,451, marginally higher than the 29,437 small boat migrants who made the illegal journey in 2023.
Nigel Farage
PAMaritime sources have told GB News that the eventual figure for the entire year is likely to easily surpass 35,000.
However, it could teeter towards 40,000 depending on weather conditions.
Sir Keir Starmer promised to "smash the gangs" and end the small boats crisis ahead of the 2024 General Election.
Despite the Prime Minister immediately axing Rishi Sunak's Rwanda plan after entering No10 on July 4, smalls boats continue to cross the Channel.
Responding to this week's milestone, a Home Office spokesman told GB News: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.”
