GB News can reveal more than 42,000 people have arrived across the English Channel in small boats this year, after another 300 made the crossing today.
It comes as the government signed a fresh multi-million-pound deal with France in a bid to curb Channel crossings.
The agreement, hiking the figure paid to France by the UK to around 72 million euros (£63 million) in 2022/23, will see British officers stationed in French control rooms for the first time and a 40% boost in beach patrols along the country’s northern coastline.
The latest effort aimed at tackling the migrant crisis comes as the number of people arriving on the south coast after making the journey topped 40,000 for the year so far, with crossings continuing on Monday.
Channel crossings have hit 42,000 this year after 300 people cross in small boats today.
GB News
Rishi Sunak said the move would contribute to his efforts to “grip illegal migration” and that he was “confident” numbers would come down over time, although he declined to guarantee they would fall next year.
But critics lambasted the deal, with Conservative MP for Dover Natalie Elphicke saying it “falls short of what is needed”.
Further measures signed off earlier in Paris by Home Secretary Suella Braverman and French interior minister Gerald Darmanin include drones and night vision equipment to help officers detect crossings, as well as stepping up surveillance around ports to prevent migrants entering the UK in lorries, with more CCTV and sniffer dogs.
The “activity will begin with immediate effect”, a Home Office policy paper detailing the agreement said, with the rise in French officers on beach patrols taking place “in the next five months”.
Migrants wait after arriving in England.
GB News
The Prime Minister told broadcasters ahead of the G20 summit in Bali: “I’m confident that we can get the numbers down.
“But I also want to be honest with people that it isn’t a single thing that will magically solve this. We can’t do it overnight.
“But people should be absolutely reassured that this is a top priority for me. There’s lots more that we need to do.”