More than 1,100 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in small boats on Saturday, the highest number recorded on a single day so far in 2025, as Defence Secretary John Healey said Britain had “lost control of its borders over the last five years.”
More than 1,100 migrants arrived in the UK on Saturday after crossing the English Channel, marking the highest daily total recorded so far in 2025. According to the latest Home Office figures, 1,195 people made the crossing in 19 small boats. The figures push the total number of arrivals so far this year to 14,812, an increase of 42 per cent on the same point last year and 95 per cent higher than at the equivalent stage in 2023.
How this compares to previous years
While Saturday’s total marks a high point for 2025, it remains below the single-day record set on 3 September 2022, when 1,305 people arrived in one day, the highest daily figure since Home Office records began in 2018. Annual totals have also fluctuated significantly in recent years: almost 37,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats during 2024, while 2022 remains the highest year on record overall, with 45,755 arrivals.
Defence Secretary’s response
Speaking on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Defence Secretary John Healey said Britain had “lost control of its borders over the last five years.” He described the scenes of migrants being collected by people smugglers as though picked up “like a taxi” to be brought to the UK as “shocking.” Healey said an agreement was already in place with French authorities, who rescued 184 people attempting the crossing on Saturday, to change the way they operate. He said the current focus was on getting that agreement fully into effect so that officials could “intercept these smugglers and stop these people in the boats, not just on the shore.”
The Home Office’s position
A Home Office spokesperson said the government wanted to end what it described as dangerous small boat crossings, which the spokesperson said threaten lives and undermine border security. The spokesperson accused people-smuggling gangs of indifference to the safety of those they exploit, so long as they are paid, adding that the government “will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.” The spokesperson said this reflected a serious plan the government had put together to dismantle smuggling networks “at every stage.”
