Channel crossings reach record high: What should be done? | LBC debate

The number of migrants crossing the English Channel has set a new record for the first half of the year. Some 19,982 migrants had arrived in the UK after making the dangerous crossing by the end of June, latest Home Office figures show. The total is 48% higher than the figure for the first six months of 2024, which was 13,489, and 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433. Data collection on the Channel crossings began in 2018. A Number 10 spokesman said on Tuesday the numbers are “clearly unacceptable”, adding: “Let’s be clear, the rising numbers in recent years are because these gangs have been allowed to embed industrial-scale smuggling enterprises across Europe.” Journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, ex-Reform leader Ben Habib, Labour MP Rosie Wrighting and Tory MP Greg Smith join Iain Dale to debate the news. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewl... #iaindale #reformuk #politics #immigration #smallboats #ukpolitics #debate #lbc LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup