PM’s pledge to stop the boats rocked by record arrival of 872 Channel migrants in one day
RISHI Sunak’s promise to stop the boats was tonight rocked by a new daily record for arrivals this year.
A total of 872 illegal migrants turned up in 15 dinghies on Saturday.
It is the highest daily total since the PM made his vow in January.
The warm weekend weather saw Channel crossings surpass the previous 756 high on August 10. It means 20,973 people have made the journey this year.
Tory MPs yesterday said the influx showed why radical solutions were needed.
The PM’s plan to deport some migrants to Rwanda has been put on ice pending an autumn Supreme Court battle.
Ministers want to win it to pave the way for flights before the next election.
Some Tories are demanding Mr Sunak be prepared to quit the European Court of Human Rights if needed to get planes off to Kigali.
Tory MP Jonathan Gullis told The Sun: “Get flights to Rwanda, do more deals with other safe third countries and be willing to withdraw from the ECHR.”
Mr Sunak has insisted his law, which bans illegal migrants settling, is a deterrent as there are fewer crossings than the 25,000 by this time last year.
The Home Office is said to be making progress clearing the asylum backlog by slashing seven-hour interviews to as little as 45 minutes.
But Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Rishi Sunak has badly broken his small boats promise.”