Almost a thousand migrants crossed the Channel to the UK in two days, a development that Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said showed Labour has lost control of Britain's borders.
After a three-week pause in arrivals, some 671 people in nine boats made the journey to Britain on Friday. A total of 263 people in three boats crossed on Thursday, breaking a 21-day hiatus that marked the longest spell without arrivals this year amid high sea swell and wind in the Channel.
Footage shows man with knife before boarding
Horrific footage of one crossing attempt shows a man wielding a knife and threatening migrants before boarding a dinghy. In the footage, a man was seen moving towards a boat holding a blade while wading in waist-deep water. A man on board the boat can be seen trying to hit him with a boot.
As the man in the water draws his arm back, he appears to drop the knife into the sea. Moments later he boards the UK-bound boat. A call of "I will kill you" was heard as French rescue boats hovered in the background just a short distance away.
Children among arrivals in Dover
Several children were among a large group of people wearing life-jackets who were seen being brought ashore in Dover, Kent, as better weather brought calmer crossing conditions.
The total number of arrivals for 2026 stood at 21,869 after Friday, according to Home Office figures. With just over two months of the year to go, and with crossings typically lower during late autumn and winter, the data suggests the total number of crossings for this year is unlikely to surpass the figure for 2025.
Tories blame Labour for border crisis
Ministers have said crossings are down significantly, with the lowest number of summer arrivals – a period when journeys often rise in part due to the warmer weather – since 2020 recorded this year.
But the Tories claimed the new figures showed Labour have lost control of Britain's borders. Chris Philp said: "The boats keep coming, the smugglers keep operating and Labour keeps making excuses.
"Labour is too weak to stop the boats. Andy Burnham is more concerned with appeasing his left-wing backbenchers than taking the tough action needed to secure our borders and deport illegal immigrants.
"Only the Conservatives have the backbone to deliver a borders plan including leaving the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) and deporting all illegal immigrants. That is how we end the crisis in the Channel."
