More than 150,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel in small boats since 2018.
The government began recording the number of people who have made the dangerous journey almost seven years ago, on 1 January 2018.
The milestone was reached on Boxing Day, when 407 people crossed the Channel on 10 boats – bringing the government’s tally to 150,243.
On Christmas Day, more than 450 migrants arrived in the UK in 11 boats.
In response to the figures, shadow home secretary Chris Philip called it “an insult” and said: “It’s clear a new approach is needed.
“The National Crime Agency said stopping Channel migrants is not possible without a Rwanda-style scheme. It was a terrible mistake for Labour to cancel our deterrent before it even started.
“That’s why crossing are up 20% since Labour came in. The government must urgently restore a Rwanda style removals deterrent.”
However, a Home Office source insisted the previous Conservative government “left an appalling legacy of broken border security”.
A group of people thought to be migrants on a bus at Dover today. Pic: PA
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the government has a moral responsibility to tackle Channel crossings – but is yet to set a target date for when the numbers should fall “sharply”.
Ms Cooper has previously appeared to rule out opening more safe and legal routes for asylum seekers to bring down crossings on small boats.
Creating more options was not “an alternative to going after the criminal gangs”, she told the Commons’ home affairs select committee earlier this month.
The home secretary also told MPs she was “determined to keep making progress” on reducing the number of hotels being used to house asylum seekers, labelling them “completely inappropriate and extremely costly”.
A Home Office spokesperson also said: “We all want to end…
