Yvette Cooper believes she is turning the tide on Channel crossings after numbers dropped to their lowest level in four years in September.
Following several years of Tory grandstanding on small boats, it looks as though Labour’s plans to bring numbers down have started to bear fruit.
Just 4,190 migrants made the crossing across the Channel in September, down from 4,729 in 2023 and the lowest number of arrivals in four years.
A Home Office source said: “It is very early days and no-one is getting carried away with one month’s figures.
“But what we have hopefully started to see is the difference from disrupting the supply chains of the smuggling gangs.”
The National Crime Agency has stepped up its efforts to flush out people-smuggling gangs, teaming up with Bulgarian authorities to prevent hundreds of boats, engines and other pieces of maritime equipment reaching the hands of people smugglers.
A number of interceptions of maritime equipment intended for criminal gangs organising channel crossings have been made, including 125 dangerous inflatable boats, 128 outboard engines, more than 700 pumps, and 300 rubber rings.
NCA experts assess the seizures will have denied the crime networks around £16.6 million in profit they would have made from crossings using the equipment.
Cooper will head to Rome this week for a G7 meeting where illegal migration tops the agenda.
Ahead of the gathering, the home secretary said: “The perpetrators of the vile trade of migrant smuggling have no concern about the security of national borders or the safety of the people they exploit.
“This is a global challenge and working in collaboration with our closest partners is critical.”
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