Small-boat crossings in the English Channel have resumed after a 28-day pause — the longest stretch with no recorded arrivals since 2018 — underlining how quickly a lull in arrivals can give way to renewed political pressure over migration.
Border Force picked up around 160 people from two boats on Saturday 13 December, according to initial figures cited by Sky News from Home Office daily data. The final number may be revised when the government publishes its full update.
The crossings bring to an end a rare quiet period between 14 November and 12 December, during which no arrivals were recorded. While the gap briefly eased the immediate headlines for ministers, it has also highlighted the volatility of Channel crossings and the difficulty governments face in claiming decisive progress when numbers can swing sharply with conditions at sea.
As of 13 December, an estimated 39,292 people have crossed to the UK by small boat so far in 2025, Sky News reported, putting this year on course to be one of the highest on record. The total is higher than at the same point in 2024, when 36,816 arrivals had been recorded by mid-December, and is second only to 2022’s record 45,774.
December is historically one of the quietest months for crossings, with cold temperatures, storms, poor visibility and fewer daylight hours limiting opportunities for departures. Sky News has previously reported that the highest December total on record was 3,254 in 2024, reflecting how even winter periods can see spikes when brief weather windows open.
The resumption will intensify scrutiny of the Labour government’s approach to small-boat arrivals, which remains one of the most politically charged measures of “control” over borders despite representing a subset of overall immigration. Ministers have argued that they inherited a broken asylum system from the previous Conservative government and that structural changes take time to show up in the daily numbers.
Since taking office in July 2024, Sir Keir Starmer’s government has positioned its strategy around disrupting smuggling networks, expanding enforcement capacity and working more closely with European partners, rather than repeating the Conservative “stop the boats” pledge. Then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper led the rollout of a Border Security Command intended to co-ordinate law enforcement and intelligence agencies against people-smuggling gangs, backed by additional funding announced earlier this year.
However, the overall totals for 2025 have remained stubbornly high, complicating efforts to prove that policy — rather than weather patterns and operational decisions in France — is the main driver of change. Sky News’ analysis of the pause said the lull appeared largely weather-driven and warned against treating short-term dips as evidence of lasting success.
The crossing figures also come amid a wider debate about the balance between enforcement, international legal frameworks and humanitarian obligations. Earlier this month, rights groups cited in the Guardian accused UK and French policies of contributing to violence and deaths while failing to reduce the number of crossings, adding to the pressure on governments on both sides of the Channel.
At the same time, Starmer has recently called for reform of the European Convention on Human Rights, arguing that changes are needed to tighten deportation rules and limit the scope for legal challenges in certain cases. The push has been closely watched across Europe, where migration has been a potent issue in domestic politics and a driver of support for far-right parties.
Operationally, attention has increasingly focused on French tactics along the northern coast. France has indicated maritime police will soon be able to intercept suspected migrant “taxi boats” at sea before pick-ups take place — a shift from earlier constraints that UK politicians have repeatedly criticised. A No 10 spokesperson has previously pointed to “prevented” crossings as a sign of joint action, though such claims are difficult to measure independently.
Opposition parties have used the rolling totals to question whether Labour’s approach is working, while smaller parties, including the Greens, argue the political debate has become overly driven by daily numbers and headline announcements rather than longer-term reform.
For now, Saturday’s arrivals serve as a reminder that even the longest pause in years can end abruptly — and that the political argument over small boats, and the government’s ability to demonstrate progress, remains highly exposed to the next change in weather and the next set of figures.