Small boat crossings pass 40,000 for the year as October weather holds
Home Office figures show the highest annual total yet; ministers point to a fall in arrivals from one route under the new French agreement
More than 40,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year, the highest annual figure recorded, after a week of calm weather brought several hundred arrivals a day.
The Home Office said the total reflected conditions at sea rather than policy and pointed to a fall in crossings organised from one stretch of the French coast under an agreement signed in the spring.
Refugee organisations said the figures showed that enforcement alone did not reduce crossings. The opposition said the government had lost control of the border.
The crossings typically fall sharply from November as the weather turns.
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