Overview
- GB News provisional figures put arrivals at roughly 65,870–65,874 during Sir Keir Starmer’s first 19 months, surpassing Boris Johnson’s 65,815, with the milestone marked when Border Force vessel Volunteer docked in Dover carrying 65 people shortly after 3:45 p.m.
- The reported rate equates to about 115–117 arrivals per day under Starmer, compared with approximately 58 under Johnson and 81 under Rishi Sunak.
- An estimated 41,474 people crossed in 2025, and more than 800–900 have already arrived in early 2026 despite poor weather, with GB News reporting January could exceed last January’s total.
- Since taking office, Labour has launched a Border Security Command, expanded Home Office powers against smuggling networks, and conducted about 17,400 illegal worker raids with over 12,300 arrests; the France pilot has returned 193 people and accepted 195, while the Home Office says 40,000 crossing attempts were stopped and nearly 50,000 people were removed.
- French authorities carried out their first at-sea interception since new rules under the UK–France deal, boarding an inflatable on the Aa canal near Gravelines and towing it to shore as a judicial investigation proceeds, with protocols allowing pre-boarding action against taxi-boats.