What was claimed
1,000 people are coming in a day to the UK by small boat crossing.
Our verdict
Since 2018, there have been 12 days on which at least 1,000 migrants were recorded as arriving by small boats. The average daily number of arrivals is considerably lower, however—the average since Labour took office is around 100 migrants a day.
On BBC Question Time this week, Reform UK’s candidate in the upcoming Makerfield by-election, Robert Kenyon, said [57:05] his party would “stop the boats [...] we’d stop 1,000 people coming in a day”.
The Home Office’s daily data series for small boat crossings goes back to the start of 2018. Since then, there have been a total of 12 days on which at least 1,000 migrants have been recorded as arriving.
So while there have been multiple occasions on which the number of small boat arrivals has reached 1,000 in a day, it is rare for the numbers to be that high.
Since Labour formed its government on 5 July 2024, at least 1,000 migrants have arrived in a single day on four separate occasions—31 May 2025, 6 and 19 September 2025, and 8 October 2025.
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An average of 106 migrants a day have been recorded as arriving in the UK by small boat since 5 July 2024, though this increases to 274 when days with no arrivals are omitted. More recently, the number of arrivals has been lower than this—in May there were crossings on 15 days, with an average of 182 migrants arriving on each.
Since the dataset began on 1 January 2018, there have been an average of 66 daily arrivals by small boat—or 195, if days with no arrivals are omitted.
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