Nearly 500 migrants cross English Channel in small boats in one day – as Labour hunts for new border boss

FIGURES show almost 500 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday as Labour searches for a new border boss.

Latest statistics show that 492 people made the crossing, in nine boats.

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According to Sky News, 935 were added last week, while on Sunday there were already 703.

This is the highest number of daily crossings since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister last month.

Figures show that the highest number of arrivals in a single day so far this year was 882 on June 18.

Since Keir Starmer’s landslide victory, almost 5,000 people have entered Britain illegally across the Channel.

Labour has scrapped the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, instead allowing migrants to go through an asylum process to gain the right to stay.

Meanwhile, new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper pledged to “tackle criminal smuggling gangs” by setting up a taskforce for Border Security Command.

It has been reported that the side are in the ‘final stages’ of recruiting the boss of their new team.

The person chosen to lead Sir Keir Starmer’s crackdown on people-smuggling gangs will receive a salary of between £140,000 and £200,000, depending on their experience.

Nearly 100 people have now been moved to the headquarters at the Ministry of the Interior.

They are conducting an analysis of the gaps in our current border security.

Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Six weeks and still no sign of a Labour ghost border commando, or a single gang being busted.”

However, Labour sources say the past six weeks have seen the lowest number of arrivals in the same period since 2020.

A Labour spokesman responded: “The Tories have left our immigration and asylum system in total chaos.

“They spent hundreds of millions on their Rwanda ploy, sending only four volunteers and neglecting our border security.

“A Labour government is replacing gimmicks with grip, with a new Border Security Command that will deploy hundreds of specialist investigators to track down the vicious criminal smuggling gangs that undermine our border security and put lives at risk.

“This command is now located at the Ministry of the Interior and will be scaled up in the coming weeks.”

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