More than 450 people cross Channel in small boats on Christmas Day

More than 450 people crossed the English Channel in small boats on Christmas Day, according to Home Office figures.

Data updated on Thursday indicated that 451 migrants arrived on December 25 on 11 boats.

The last time vessels carrying migrants were known to have arrived was on December 14, when 160 people arrived in three boats.

The last time there were crossings on Christmas Day was 2022 when 90 people arrived. There were 67 the year before in 2021.

There are usually more small boat arrivals in the second half of the year, as there are generally more periods of weather in the summer and autumn when crossings can be made.

Days in which the wind and wave levels in the Channel are the most conducive to crossings are referred to as “red days”, and a period earlier in the autumn saw the highest concentration of red days in a month, with 26 out of 31 days between October 11 and November 10.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said on Thursday: “We have been let down again by Labour. Their Christmas gift to the British public appears to be uncontrolled and unlimited illegal immigration.

“This Labour government has failed to offer any real or credible plan to protect our borders – instead offering nothing but hollow soundbites and empty promises.

“They say they want to smash the gangs but the numbers are up on their watch and Labour even voted against longer prison sentences for these gangs when in opposition.”

Sir Keir Starmer has made “smashing the gangs” who facilitate small boat crossings one of his top priorities since coming to power.

The Prime Minister has set up a new Border Security Command, and is attempting to work more closely with the UK’s European neighbours to pull apart organised crime gangs involved in people smuggling.

Earlier in December, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that the Government has a moral responsibility to tackle the small boats crisis, however she has declined to put a date on when the number of people crossing the Channel may drop.

“We have a responsibility, a moral responsibility to go after those gangs who are putting lives at risk,” she said.

“When you see these flimsy boats, the way that it’s women and kids who get put in the middle of the boats, so when the boat folds, they are the people who get crushed, who end up drowning.”

Speaking days later to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Ms Cooper said she wanted to see crossings fall sharply but did not set a deadline of when the target would be met.

“There is a history of home secretaries and prime ministers making grand promises but never actually having a proper plan,” she said.

“The approach we are taking to this is really step by step, we are putting in place the things that we need, the agreements with other countries, the stronger returns arrangements, the much stronger law enforcement, the operations with Germany to go after the smugglers’ supply chains, the operations with Italy to go after the illicit finance.”