GB News halts for breaking migrant alert and it’s bad news for Keir Starmer

It’s been a turbulent few weeks for Keir Starmer and it appears he has yet another problem on his hands as migrant crossings have surged. The breaking update was announced on GB News by Bev Turner, who was joined by the channel’s Home and Security Editor Mark White.

Mark revealed that almost 600 migrants crossed the Channel via small boat in just one day, a figure far higher than expected. “These figures are extraordinary for February,” Bev said as she questioned what has sparked the surge. Reacting to the news, Mark said: “In terms of the numbers crossing, this was a phenomenally busy day in the Channel. You don’t normally see numbers like this – close to 600 crossing – until we’re well into the summer months.”

Although the weather conditions have been “atrocious”, around 2,200 small boat migrants have arrived in the UK since the beginning of the year. Sources have confirmed to Mark that 2026 will likely be a record year in terms of the number of migrants entering the UK illegally.

He continued: “We can tell you more sobering news of about 4,500 migrants who are currently in the makeshift camps around Calais and Dunkirk. Again, this is unusual.

“There is not normally that number of people in the camps in the winter because there aren’t as many opportunities to cross the UK. All this points to a very busy year ahead.”

In a dig to the Labour government, Bev pondered whether there is any deterrent in place and what Starmer’s party is “claiming” to be doing to combat the amount of arrivals, including pointing towards the “decent number” of returns.

Mark responded: “Interestingly we are going to get the latest return figures from the Home Office to give us an indication of those they’re sending back and yes, returns are up. At last count, about 50,000 illegal migrants returned to their home countries since Keir Starmer took office.

“But, here’s the kicker, the vast majority of that 50,000 are not those who are coming across the English Channel in small boats. They are foreign national offenders who have come to the UK who have committed a crime and been jailed for that and subsequently been deported.”

Mark explained it is also those who come to the UK on work or tourist visas, who start working illegally.

He added: “Those who are coming across the English Channel, the most visible manifestation of the illegal migrant crisis, very few of those, at this stage anyways, are being returned to their home countries.

“We are now, after about eight years of this crisis, at around 200,000 migrants who have crossed the Channel illegally in that time. That is a significant number for a country the size of the UK.”