GB News interrupted for ‘breaking’ announcement – and it’s huge blow for Keir Starmer
The UK saw another record-breaking day for migrant Channel crossings on Tuesday, with approximately 700 people arriving by small boats just days after 656 made the journey on Saturday.
The latest figures push the total number of arrivals in 2025 to nearly 9,000, far exceeding the 6,265 recorded by this point last year. The surge poses a major challenge for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who vowed his Labour government would “smash the gangs” behind people smuggling.
GB News interrupted its regular programming to report the numbers, with presenter Martin Daubney remarking: “We’ve become almost immune to this. It feels like another day in clown world, but this is another grim tally that’s been beaten.” Political scientist and migration expert Mike Jones delivered a blunt assessment, saying: “You become desensitised to it after a while, and many more records will be smashed during Labour’s time in office because the gangs are smashing Sir Keir Starmer rather than the other way around.”
Jones argued that Starmer’s current approachfocusing on detaining and deporting migrants is insufficient without major legal and logistical changes. “To actually stop the boats, you need two things,” he said. “First, you need to reopen detention centres. Second, you need to amend or abolish the Human Rights Act. Right now, the Home Office is like a Potemkin institution it has no real power. All the power lies with judges and human rights lawyers.”.
A senior maritime security source told GB News the situation was an “absolute disaster” for Labour’s border policies, despite recent high-profile arrests of suspected smugglers by the National Crime Agency. “We’re not seeing the gangs smashed,” the source said. “We’re seeing all previous records for migrant crossings being smashed.”
Starmer had previously declared it his “personal mission” to dismantle people-smuggling networks, announcing an extra £75 million for border security during a speech at Interpol’s annual assembly in November. But with crossings continuing to rise, critics argue that rhetoric alone won’t solve the crisis and that without sweeping reforms, the government’s promises may ring hollow.
The ongoing surge has reignited debates over the UK’s asylum system, border enforcement, and whether Labour’s policies will be enough to stem the tide. For now, the numbers suggest the people smugglers are still winning.
