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World

Record Channel crossings expose Starmer’s failure to ‘smash the gangs’

5 February 2025

9:28 PM

5 February 2025

9:28 PM

More migrants have illegally crossed the English Channel since 1 January than in any previous year for this period. So far in 2025, 1,344 migrants were detected crossing the Channel in small boats between 1 January and 4 February, beating the previous record of 1,339 in 2022.

The figures published by Border Force – and tracked daily by The Spectator’s data hub – put paid to Keir Starmer’s promise to ‘smash the gangs’.

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