Record arrival in small boats

Nearly 1,000 cross on same day as a boy aged two dies

- Michael Knowles

ALMOST 1,000 migrants crossed the Channel on the day a two-year-old boy was trampled to death in a boat.

The Home Office said 973 asylum seekers were detected in 17 dinghies on Saturday a record for 2024 and the highest daily total since November 2022.

The arrivals bring the total for the year to 26,612.

This compares with 25,330 by the same date last year and 33,611 in 2022, with 1,368 having made the journey on Friday and Saturday combined, according to the Home Office figures.

Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick blasted Labour and said: "This is the highest number crossing the Channel in a single day for years.

Trampled

"Starmer needs to rip up his dangerous so-called 'plan' on small boats. Our country's security is at stake.