Security minister ‘confident' small boat numbers will go down, while French fail to intercept boats
This weekend, small boat crossings hit a record single-day high for the year. ITV News Political Correspondent Shehab Khan rode along with an immigration raid to see how the government plans to tackle the rise
The security minister says he is "confident" that co-operation with French police will reduce small boat crossings, despite a loophole that stops their officers from intercepting migrants once they are in the sea.
In an interview with ITV News Political Correspondent Shehab Khan, Dan Jarvis said: "I'm confident the agreement we've recently reached with the French will make a meaningful difference and we'll be able to get the numbers down."
But at the weekend, crossings hit a record high for a single day this year, as rules for French police often prevent them from intervening while migrants pile into boats to cross the Channel.
A loophole in French law means police are unable to intercept migrants if they are already in the water - something ITV News Correspondent Peter Smith saw in action in Dunkirk earlier this month.
The French interior minister agreed in principle to close the loophole earlier this year, but that has yet to happen.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the House of Commons on Monday she is "urging" the French to close the loophole as "swiftly as possible".
When pressed on how those discussions are going, Jarvis said: "The Home Secretary has been in touch with the French interior minister... We do need the closest possible working relationship with the French, that is critical to reducing the number of people who are crossing the channel."
Jarvis insisted the level of boat crossings is "unacceptably high", but "the way to get these numbers down is through cooperation with the French and with other allies and partners further afield."
On Tuesday the Home Office released data for the first time showing the likelihood of migrant crossings based on the weather.
The statistics showed that the number of "red days", meaning days where good weather made crossings more likely, has almost doubled since Labour took power.
There were 149 'red' days between July 1 2024 and April 30 2025, a period that coincides broadly with the time since Labour won the general election on July 4.
Some 34,401 migrants arrived in the UK during this period after making the journey across the Channel.
In the equivalent period 12 months earlier – from July 1 2023 to April 30 2024 – there was almost half the number of 'red' days (77) and a lower number of arrivals (25,571).
The statistics also show the number of people cramming onto the dangerous boats has also increased dramatically - with the number of boats carrying more than 80 people tripling in the past year.
There were 33 occasions where more than 80 people crammed onto a small boat in the year to April 2025, compared to 11 in the previous year.
Home Office data from the weekend also showed showed 1,195 migrants arrived in 19 boats on Saturday - the first time daily crossings topped a thousand in 2025.
Writing on social media site X on Monday, the Prime Minister said: 'You have every right to be angry about small boat crossings.
'I'm angry too.
'We are ramping up our efforts to smash the people smuggling gangs at source.'
He claimed hundreds of boats and engines had been 'seized', raids on illegal working were up, and 'almost 30,000 people' had been returned.
The Conservatives are urging the government to suspend the recent agreement giving EU fishing boats access to UK waters until 2038, in order to force the French to act.
When asked about whether the government would consider such a move, Jarvis would not be drawn, saying: "The Prime Minister has said that border security is national security, and that's why this is such a big priority of this government. The Home Secretary has been in touch with the authorities in France, we're working very closely with them."
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