A record-breaking 500 migrants crossed the Channel on small boats to reach the UK.
According to data from the Home Office, ten boats carried 514 passengers, with an average of 51 on board. At 4,043 crossings, the total for 2024 is 10% more than 3,683 last year and 25% higher than 2022.
Just hours after disturbing news of a stabbing on a northern French beach surfaced, the updated statistics were released today. This victim was one of several who were escorted into Dover yesterday by a Border Force vessel; he was then transferred to a lifeboat and brought to shore. His story, he told the police in Kent, was that two guys had assaulted him on a beach near Calais before staying in France while he crossed to the UK. Detectives have stated that they are providing information about the stabbing to French authorities for additional investigation, but no arrests have been made as of yet.
Another wave of setbacks to draft laws in the Lords delivered the government a blow in its plan to transport migrants to Rwanda, adding further pressure on ministers as they try to get planes off the ground. After reporting being stabbed on a French beach, an illegal was transported to a hospital upon his arrival in Kent after crossing over the Channel. He had already informed the police of the incident.
There was no evidence to substantiate charges that the Church of England was undermining the system of asylum seekers by claiming migrants had converted to Christianity, the Archbishop of Canterbury declared after the Government lost in the Lords.
‘No proof, only allegations,’ stated the Most Reverend Justin Welby, who had examined the matter.
A former Anglican clergyman named Matthew Firth had previously announced that he had put a stop to the plethora of asylum baptisms that were going on, prompting the charges.
Sir Keir Starmer, meanwhile, stated that his party would not rest until they had prevented small boats from crossing the Channel. He vowed to collaborate with foreign law enforcement on the problem and claimed it was “not impossible” to dismantle the people-smuggling organizations.
