Keir Starmer learns the hard way how insurmountable tackling small boats will be

Despite all the tough talk from Sir Keir Starmer and his pledge to “destroy the gangs” – which he reiterated again this week in Germany – last night’s events are a sobering reminder of the scale of that challenge.

This week saw three days of calm weather in the Channel, resulting in the now familiar pattern of dozens of small boats heading towards the UK.

On Tuesday, the first day of good weather in more than a week, 525 migrants made the illegal journey in eight small boats.

On Wednesday, another 614 people crossed the ocean in ten rowing boats.

But on Thursday, the wind between France and the UK started to pick up again, making the journey a little more difficult.

That day only 211 of them reached British waters in four small boats.

As winds continued to pick up on Thursday evening, French and British authorities were able to ease up a bit.

Few, if any, migrant boats were expected to attempt the crossing on Friday.

But suddenly the wind changed and criminal gangs were able to take action.

What happened next, in the space of just a few hours, is one of the most dramatic examples yet of how the capabilities and expertise of cross-Channel people smugglers have developed in recent years.

It was an ad hoc, opportunistic venture in 2018, with smaller boats, many of which had been stolen from local ports, setting out more in the hope than expectation of reaching British waters.

But in the six years since then, the number of migrants on board and the size of the boats have grown significantly. Most of the dinghies are made to order in backstreet factories in China.

These supply lines are now more advanced and robust than ever. If one supply line is compromised, others are quickly built.

But it is not just the acquisition of boats and equipment that has become increasingly sophisticated. The ease with which the gangs can market their services across the Channel to new areas, and the level of co-operation required to move people thousands of kilometres to France, has also evolved into a well-oiled smuggling machine.

The fact that the gangs can respond so quickly to sudden changes in weather conditions shows how well coordinated and expert they have become at predicting wind and tides.

Organized crime gangs even employ professional weathermen so they know exactly when the best time is to launch.

But it is their ability to respond so quickly to changing conditions, to coordinate logistics across a vast stretch of coastline and to launch up to a dozen boats that authorities should be concerned about.

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The National Crime Agency is recruiting an additional 100 detectives to focus on people smuggling across the Channel.

But it will take some time before this modest increase in research capacity is fully implemented.

Meanwhile, organized crime gangs are becoming increasingly organized and better able to resist attempts to dismantle them.

With the number of people crossing the Channel this year already rising to more than 21,000, Sir Keir Starmer is learning the hard way how difficult it is to deal with small boats.

And just as we did under the previous government, GB News will continue to document key days and record the arrival of migrants in small boats under the new government, to gauge whether or not Labour’s promise to dismantle people smuggling rings is being met.