Home Office figures show 257 people made the journey in four boats on Sunday, taking the provisional total for the year so far to 12,901. The previous record for arrivals in the six months from January to June was 12,747 in 2022. In the first half of 2023, arrivals stood at 11,433.
The 2024 total to date is 17% higher than the number of arrivals recorded this time last year (11,058) and up 8% on the same period in 2022 (11,975).
Last year a total of 29,437 people arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in small boats, down 36% on a record 45,774 in 2022.
The record figure emerged as Rishi Sunak claimed that Labour would make the UK the "soft-touch illegal migration capital of the world".
The prime minister stepped up attacks on Keir Starmer's proposals to curb migration, which the Conservatives claimed would let thousands more into the UK each year.
The Conservatives reiterated their pledges to halt illegal migration, including "running a regular rhythm of flights to Rwanda to provide an effective deterrent, starting in July, until the boats are stopped".
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