Migrants who have arrived across the Channel now outnumber Britain's entire armed forces, it has been claimed. More than 182,000 people have reached England in small boats since the crisis began, official figures show. According to Migration Watch it means their numbers have now overtaken the total personnel in the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, which stood at 180,779 in January.
The pressure group's analysis has also found that most are 'military age men', as almost 90 per cent of small boat migrants are male, and 67 per cent are between 18 and 39. And its chairman Alp Mehmet warned that the rate of arrivals is increasing. He said: 'It has taken eight years to reach 181,000 - at the current rate as many will come in little more than three.'
'Most worrying is that nothing the government has done or proposes will stem the tide of illegal boats. The will is simply not there.'
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'It is staggering that so many people have illegally come in. Over 1,000 crossed last Saturday alone, and this year so far has been the worst in history. 'Labour made a huge mistake by cancelling the Rwanda removals deterrent before it even started with no replacement.
'Every illegal immigrant should be immediately departed upon arrival. Then the crossings would soon end.'
Latest Home Office statistics show that the total number of small boat arrivals since December 2018, when records began, now stands at 182,164. Since Labour won the election in July 2024, a total of 54,268 migrants have reached England in small boats including 188 in three dinghies on Wednesday.
The record total for the year so far is more than 30,000, some 37 per cent up on the year before. It includes 2,203 people who have landed here in less than a week since new the Home Secretary was appointed. Four people including two children have died in two separate incidents this week, adding to the pressure on Shabana Mahmood.
And a boat reached a beach in Kent without being intercepted by Border Force on Saturday in the first so-called 'uncontrolled' landing since December 2022. Ms Mahmood has been ordered by Sir Keir Starmer to 'get a grip' on the situation and wants to move people in costly asylum hotels to be moved into barracks on former military bases. She also hopes the much-vaunted 'one in, one out' deal with France will deter others from making the journey, although no one has yet been returned under the arrangement signed last month.
Ms Mahmood said: 'These small boats crossings are utterly unacceptable and the vile people smugglers behind them are wreaking havoc on our borders. 'Thanks to our deal with France, people crossing in small boats can now be detained and removed to France and I expect the first returns to take place imminently. 'Protecting the UK border is my priority as Home Secretary and I will explore all options to restore order to our immigration system.'
New Home Office minister Mike Tapp claimed that the returns deal arranged by the former Home Secretary is already starting to damage the people-smugglers' business model. He told BBC Breakfast: 'This is a pilot scheme which took some really hard negotiation from Yvette Cooper and her team. We would like to see it grow. 'At the moment, it's starting to act as a deterrent, because, if for example, you run a car business and one in 15 of your cars that you are selling is dodgy, your business model starts to fall down.
'If you're a migrant sat on a beach in Calais and you're going to give up to £10,000 to a smuggler, there's that risk of immediate removal, which means you're less likely to part with that money. 'We will see the first flight off the ground in the next few weeks.'
Meanwhile Ms Cooper's husband suggested she did not want to be moved from the Home Office. Ed Balls told the Political Currency podcast: 'From Yvette's point of view, I mean, how could you not be excited by the idea of being the Foreign Secretary? 'But it's obviously frustrating when you spent years getting to the point where you had a plan to turn this round in terms of migration.'