Migrants cross English Channel ahead of spending review announcement
Migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel as Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to unveil her spending review.
Pictures show new arrivals wearing life jackets being brought to shore in a Border Force boat in Dover, Kent, on Wednesday.
They are the first to make the journey to the UK so far this month after a record first five months of the year bringing the provisional total so far to 14,812 arrivals.
This has also surpassed the highest total recorded for the first six months of the year, which was previously 13,489 on June 30 last year.
In 2024, the number of arrivals did not reach more than 14,000 until July 9 (14,058).
Following Wednesday's arrivals, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said now 15,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in the 'worst year ever for small boat crossings so far', adding 'this is a total collapse of border control'.
The official figures of the number of arrivals will be published on Thursday by the Home Office.
The arrivals come as the Chancellor will set out spending plans for the coming years, with big rises expected for the NHS, defence and schools.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was the last minister to reach a deal with the Treasury, with reports suggesting greater police spending would mean a squeeze on other areas of her department's budget.
But the Home Office will also receive a £680 million cash boost for border security, according to the Sun newspaper.
The paper reported Ms Cooper has gained £100 million to spend on tackling illegal migration this year and a further £580 million over the next three years for border police and surveillance, including more drones.
The Government has vowed to crack down on people-smuggling and Channel crossings since coming to power in July last year.
This includes by funding elite officers to increase patrols along the northern French coastline and launching a specialist intelligence unit in Dunkirk to track down people smugglers.
It has also established a Border Security Command to lead strategy and its Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, currently going through Parliament, seeks to introduce new criminal offences and hand counter terror-style powers to law enforcement agencies to target smuggling gangs.
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