Channel migrant crossings have rocketed since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister, official figures show.

More than 20,000 have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel since he entered No 10 in July, according to Home Office data.

It has taken about five months for migrant crossings to reach the figure after Sir Keir came to power.

By contrast it took around eight-and-a-half months for migrant crossings to top 20,000 after Mr Sunak became prime minister.

Some 50,637 arrivals were recorded during Rishi Sunak’s premiership, which began on October 25 2022.

The total for this year is 33,562.

Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary, said: “This is the inevitable consequence of Starmer’s weak and vacuous policy on small boat crossings which marks just another page in Labour’s catalogue of failure after five months in charge.

“Despite his pledge to smash the gangs, these figures show that under Keir Starmer, the gangs are thriving and able to send more people every day to our shores on a deadly crossing.

“Starmer voted 134 times in opposition against measures to grip this crisis and cancelled the Rwanda deterrent before it even started. That’s why small boat numbers are up 20% since the election, compared to the same time last year.

“Starmer’s failure on immigration means more misery in the channel, more migrant hotels and a greater burden on the taxpayer. The British public have had enough.”

It comes after the Prime Minister announced a major overhaul of the immigration system and accused the Conservatives of running “a one-nation experiment in open borders” amid concerns over the number of people legally arriving in the UK.

Sir Keir said his Government had inherited an “utter mess” in the Home Office and new Tory leader Kemi Badenoch admitted her party had failed on migration.

The Prime Minister told a Downing Street press conference: “Let me say directly to the people watching: where the last government failed you, this one will not. They drove immigration numbers up. We will get them down.”

Recent figures showed the cost of the UK’s asylum system has risen to £5 billion, the highest level of Home Office spending on record and up by more than a third in a year.

Other data showed 35,651 asylum seekers were being housed in UK hotels at the end of September, up more than 6,000 since the end of June, signalling the first quarterly rise for a year.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a “landmark” deal with Iraq, intended to crack down on people smuggling and boost border security.

The Prime Minister has put international co-operation with law enforcement agencies in Europe at the heart of his bid to cut the number of arrivals.

He previously said his Government “inherited a very bad position” with record numbers of migrants in the first half of the year “because the entire focus until we had the election was on a gimmick, the Rwanda gimmick, and not enough attention was on taking down the gangs that are running this vile trade”.

But “if the boats and the engines aren’t available, it obviously makes it much more difficult for these crossings to be made”.

His comments came after he vowed to “treat people smugglers like terrorists” as he announced extra cash for his Border Security Command.

Ms Cooper has so far not committed to a target or timeframe for curbing Channel crossings but pledged the Government will “try and make progress as rapidly as possible”.

The National Crime Agency has said it is leading around 70 live investigations into organised immigration crime or human trafficking.

Some 50 people have died while trying to cross the Channel this year, according to incidents recorded by the French coastguard, in what is considered the deadliest year since the crisis unfolded.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has also reported several more migrant deaths believed to be linked to crossing attempts so far in 2024.