Small boats crisis hits 100,000 milestone in five years after new arrivals today

The number of people to cross the English Channel in small boats has hit 100,000 since records began in January 2018.  According to analysis by the PA news agency, Government figures showed that between January 1 2018 and this Tuesday, 99,960 people had arrived in the UK by small boat.  However eyewitnesses this morning reported RNLI lifeboats bringing dozens to shore, with one observer saying there appeared to be more than 40 migrants brought to the UK by two lifeboats.  That would take the total figure past 100,000.  The milestone is yet another headache for the Government, which has spent the week parading its plans to stop migrant boat crossings.  This week the Government has boarded migrants onto the Bibby Stockholm barge for the first time, promised to crack down on employers of illegal immigrants, and floated the idea of leaving the ECHR to tackle the crisis.  However numbers are yet to fall, and not a single migrant has been sent to Rwanda as the Government continues to battle the policy in the courts.  A poll this week showed just nine percent of Brits believe Rishi Sunak will stop small boat crossings, rising to 15 percent of Conservative voters.