Keir Starmer ‘expects’ sunny weather to bring more small boat crossings this summer after 700 migrants arrived in one day, despite the new PM’s pledge to ‘crush the gangs’

Keir Starmer More boat crossings are expected this summer, No10 reported today – just hours after hundreds of migrants arrived in Britain.

Some 703 people crossed the Channel to reach the UK on Sunday, the highest number of arrivals in a single day since the prime minister came to power.

Last weekend, two people also died during the dangerous journey.

Stopping the arrival of small boats was a key issue at the British General Assembly election in July and the prime minister had promised to destroy the gangs responsible for the border crossings.

Sir Keir’s spokesman admitted today, on the hottest day of the year so far, that authorities expect more border crossings in the coming weeks due to the warm weather.

Asked whether Labour had failed to stop the boats as effectively as the previous Tory government, the spokesman replied: ‘I disagree.

‘We know this summer is a challenging time and we expect to see an increase before we see improvements.

‘We know that criminal gangs are seeking to exploit people in these months, using increasingly dangerous tactics and approaches. That’s why it’s vital that we work to defeat the gangs responsible for this and putting lives at risk across the Channel.’

The spokesperson could not give a time or date when the new prime minister’s plan would come into effect.

He also denied that the scrapping of the Rwanda plan had made the situation worse, saying there was “no correlation” between the scrapping of the plan and the number of arrivals.

“Our primary focus is on establishing an immigration system that can process cases and tackle the gangs that are behind them,” the spokesperson said.

The latest figures come as the UK faced anti-migrant unrest following a knife attack on July 29 that left three children dead and was wrongly linked on social media to a Muslim immigrant.

Thousands of anti-racism protesters gathered in Britain on Saturday to protest riots targeting mosques and hotels over immigration-related issues.

Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron have pledged to strengthen “collaboration” in tackling the rise in the number of undocumented migrants.

But James Cleverly, shadow home secretary, has accused Labour of sending “the wrong message” by abandoning the previous Tory government’s troubled Rwanda plan after figures showed the number of small boat crossings this year had exceeded 18,000.

The former minister and Conservative Party leadership candidate said the figures showed the government’s “ghost border command is clearly not working”.

The highest number of arrivals on a single day this year so far was 882 on June 18 and the second highest was 711 on May 1, both under the previous government ahead of the general election.

Mr Cleverly said: ‘Since Labour dropped its deterrent, more and more boats carrying more and more people are crossing the Channel.

“They sent the wrong message by throwing open the doors instead of doing what was necessary to stop the dangerous crossings.

Read more: Keir Starmer ‘expects’ sunny weather to bring more small boat crossings this summer