Mahmood says 50,000 Channel crossing attempts prevented as France adds 50 riot police

Mixed · 2Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said that over 50,000 small boat crossing attempts have been prevented since the July 2024 general election, citing French operational data. 1 2 Left · 1The figure was released alongside the deployment of extra Compagnie Républicaine de Sécurité (CRS) officers, France's main anti-riot unit, to the Channel coast. 1 Right · 1The Home Office says this doubles the number of officers from 50 to 100 until March 2027, on standby for 'red days' when weather and sea conditions make crossings likely, with powers to stop large groups gathering and boarding boats. 2

Right · 1GB News reports the deployment is funded by the three-year £662million UK-France deal agreed in April. 2 Mixed · 2Mahmood said: 'Our collective efforts, on both sides of the Channel, are having an impact', adding that the government is 'not complacent' and will be 'relentless in pursuing the criminal gangs'. 1 2 Left · 1Border Security Commander Duncan Capps said this summer recorded the lowest number of arrivals since 2020. 1

Right · 1GB News gives arrivals so far this year as 20,935, down 42 per cent on the same point last year (36,244) and 19 per cent below 2023 (25,931), and describes them as the lowest since 2021. 2 Mixed · 2Both outlets report that smugglers are launching boats from further along the coast to evade French operations; GB News cites a dinghy that left near Utah Beach in Normandy and reached Gosport, the third such crossing in a month. 1 2 Left · 1The one-in-one-out returns deal with France, the UK's first return agreement with mainland Europe since Brexit, ended at the start of the month, and France called on Andy Burnham to negotiate a returns deal with the EU as a whole, according to the Mirror. 1

Right · 1GB News understands that about 1,500 asylum seekers had been returned to France under the scheme as of 1 October, with slightly fewer arriving in Britain, and that flights will continue for those already detained. 2 Left · 1The Mirror adds that Mahmood has launched a Small Boat Returns Taskforce, and that the Home Office cited recent interceptions, including a taxi boat from Belgium on 28 September and a suspected pilot arrested on 27 September. 1 Right · 1GB News also reports a row over Reform UK's Robert Jenrick saying the party would let the Royal Marines use 'lethal force' against migrants; Kemi Badenoch and Labour's Bridget Phillipson criticised the idea, Phillipson calling it 'disgusting and illegal'. 2