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‘Shameful’
41,000 people reached UK by small boat last year, says Home Office
Second
highest annual number of irregular arrivals on record reached British shores in
2025
Rowena
Mason Whitehall editor
Thu 1 Jan
2026 17.00 GMT
More than
41,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats last year, figures branded
“shameful” by the Home Office have revealed.
The
government said 41,472 people arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel in 2025
– the second highest number on record after 45,774 made the journey in 2022.
The
number of crossings was running at the highest level on record for much of the
year, but the pace slowed in the last two months of 2025. The total for the
year ended up being 13% higher than the figure for 2024.
Keir
Starmer had fought the election in 2024 promising to “smash the gangs” and last
year negotiated a “one-in, one-out” returns deal with France to act as a
disincentive.
A Home
Office spokesperson said the number of small boat crossings was “shameful and
the British people deserve better”.
But they
added: “This government is taking action. We have removed almost 50,000 people
who were here illegally, and our historic deal with the French means those who
arrive on small boats are now being sent back.
“The home
secretary has announced the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration
in decades, removing the incentives that bring illegal migrants to the UK and
scaling up the return of those with no right to be here.”
However,
Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said Starmer’s plans had been “a
complete disaster” and a “farce”. He also claimed that “many of the young men
that have arrived last year will do us great harm”.
The
Conservatives have claimed that foreign nationals arriving by small boat are
more likely to go to prison, but Full Fact found in July that the University of
Oxford’s Migration Observatory has said there is no reliable publicly available
data about crimes committed by foreign arrivals by small boat.
Chris
Philp, the Conservative shadow home secretary, said on Thursday that pulling
out of the European convention on human rights (ECHR) was the only way to
reduce the number of small boat crossings.
He said:
“Labour have confined themselves to cosmetic tweaks, hence only 5% of arrivals
have been removed. There is no deterrent and anyone who crosses the Channel
knows they can invoke human rights law and remain indefinitely. Labour lack the
backbone to confront that truth.”
The
government is counting on greater powers for law enforcement to tackle
people-smuggling gangs under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act ,
which became law in December. The act introduces new criminal offences and
allows law enforcement agencies to use counterterror-style powers to crack down
on people-smuggling gangs.
Shabana
Mahmood, the home secretary, also announced plans in November for “the most
significant changes to our asylum system in modern times”, in an effort to
deter people from coming to the UK and make it easier to deport them.
Under
changes inspired by the Danish system, refugee status will become temporary
with regular reviews every 30 months, and refugees will be forced to wait 20
years for permanent settlement in the UK, up from five years currently.
Reacting
to the Channel crossings for 2025, Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the
Refugee Council, said: “Most men, women and children taking these journeys have
fled oppressive regimes like the Taliban in Afghanistan and brutal civil wars
in countries like Sudan.
“No one
risks their life on a flimsy boat in the Channel except out of desperation to
be safe in a country where they have family or community connections.
“It’s
right the government wants to stop Channel crossings, but plans that will
punish people found to be refugees are unfair and not an effective deterrent.”
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