The number of illegal migrants arriving on British shores in 2025 is now on track to be nearly 50% higher than at the same point last year, according to new estimates.
In 2024, some 13,272 were known to have crossed by the end of June. GB News, which deploys spotters at coastal ‘rescue’ sites to conduct headcounts in advance of the official figures being released, stated:
at this rate, we could hit the 20,000 mark by Tuesday.
As the report went out, around 200 individuals were spotted leaving the first wave of incoming boats onto the Kent coast. The previous ‘Red Day’—a day when the good weather permits more boat crossings than usual—saw nearly 600 migrants making the illegal crossing.
Partly in response, UK prime minister Keir Starmer has proposed a new deal on deportations with France, which he hopes can be signed during a state visit next week.
Given the entirely predictable character of such movements, Labour’s abject failure to control the problem looks more and more like a political choice.
