Record 230 people cross Channel in one small boat

A small boat has crossed the English Channel carrying 230 people, the largest-ever recorded number to make the journey in a single vessel.

The boat arrived in the UK in the early hours of Monday.

The 230 people on one boat breaks the previous record from July when 165 people made the crossing on a single vessel.

A Home Office spokesperson said this latest incident demonstrated the "reckless and dangerous tactics employed by criminal gangs... who continue to put lives at risk by cramming ever greater numbers of people onto unseaworthy vessels".

Provisional Home Office figures for the number of people who have crossed the Channel to the UK this year so far is 14,819 - 43% lower than the number recorded by this time last year, and down 16% on the same period in 2024.

Earlier this month, more than 170 people were rescued after the boat they were using to make the crossing caught fire.

People smugglers have been increasing the number of migrants crammed into boats, with the average number of people per small boat increasing each year since the crossings began.

In 2018, there was an average of seven per boat but last year, that had risen to 62.

The English Channel is one of the most dangerous, and busiest, shipping lanes in the world.

Many migrants come from some of the poorest and most chaotic parts of the world, and many ask to claim asylum once they are picked up by the UK authorities.

On X, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: "At 2.30am this morning a boat carrying 230 people was taken into Dover.

"This is a record number in a single vessel.

"It's yet more proof that this illegal invasion is a national security emergency."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We are making progress, with the number of small boat crossings down this year and the lowest number recorded for the month of July since 2020.

"But we must go further, which is why we have signed a payment-by-results deal with the French to put 40% more boots on the ground on French beaches."

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