A record 781 migrants reached Britain in small boats on Wednesday, official figures show — the busiest single day of crossings this year.
The Home Office recorded ten vessels making the journey from France, an average of about 78 people crammed on each boat. The total beat the previous 2026 high of 752 arrivals, set on 29 July.
The year’s running total now stands at 18,565, provisional figures show. That is 42 per cent below the 32,188 recorded at the same point last year, and 26 per cent under the 25,165 counted by this stage in 2024.
Two uncontrolled landings in two days
The record day came as the Home Secretary was already dealing with a rare border failure. On Monday a dinghy carrying five people reached The Warren near Folkestone without being intercepted, and on Tuesday around 30 people landed at Samphire Hoe near Dover, of whom 21 were detained.
Shabana Mahmood ordered an urgent review by the Border Security Command and said the failure to intercept the two boats was “not acceptable”. Uncontrolled landings are so unusual that before Monday, none had been officially recorded since 6 September 2025 — the only other incident since the Home Office began publishing the data in 2023.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell, asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today whether the landings were an embarrassment for the Government, said officials “can’t stop everything all of the time”. She told the BBC there was no “switch” to stop the crossings, but insisted the overall picture was improving and said crossings were “significantly lower than at any time in the last six years”. The Conservatives have said Labour has lost control of Britain’s borders and that a “radically different” approach is needed.
The BBC reports that people-smuggling gangs have been shifting their tactics in response to heavier policing, launching boats from points further west along the French coast.
Separately, a 37-year-old man known as Danny Tommo has been arrested on suspicion of destroying ships or endangering their safety and other criminal damage offences, after a dinghy used by asylum seekers appeared to have been slashed by a protester with a member of rescue staff still on board. The man remains in custody, according to The Times.
Reporting based on Home Office provisional small-boat arrival figures, with reporting from The Times, the BBC and National World.
