Migrant crisis: More than 35,000 small boat migrants cross the Channel illegally so far this year

More than 35,000 small boat migrants have crossed the English Channel so far this year, GB News can exclusively reveal.

The grim milestone figure was reached this morning after at least 250 migrants made the illegal journey in five small boats.

After more than a week of no small boat crossings because of bad weather in the Channel, more than 1,150 migrants reached UK waters in just the past three days.

It takes the provisional number assessed by GB News to 35,130 since the beginning of the year.

That figure is 21 per cent ahead of the 29,090 who crossed at this point last year.

The total figure for this year so far is almost 6,000 ahead of the 29,437 who arrived in UK waters during the whole of last year.

The latest totals will make uncomfortable reading for the Prime Minister, who has promised to end small boat crossings by “smashing the gangs”.

Sir Keir Starmer has announced a number of recent high-profile arrests and raids, targeting those who supply small boats and other equipment to the criminal gangs along the northern French coast.

But maritime security sources have confirmed that law enforcement activity “caused relatively minor boat supply issues, at best”.

One source added: “There are multiple well-established supply lines. If one supplier is taken out, the gangs can quickly adapt and overcome.

“The only real determinant of how many boats cross the Channel is the weather.

“The totals over the past week would likely have been even higher, but for the Winter storms sweeping across much of the UK.”

Official Home Office figures show that when conditions improved on Thursday, 609 migrants crossed in nine small boats.

Yesterday, a further 298 made the illegal journey in five boats.

On Saturday morning, GB News Kent producer confirmed at least 250 others crossed in the early morning.

The latest arrivals also take the total number of small boat migrants since Labour came to power in July to more than 21,500.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine border security.

“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long they pay.

“We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.”