Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Prime Minister has "failed to get a grip" on Channel crossings as the total for 2023 passed 20,000.The provisional total for small boat crossings in 2023 to date is 20,101, Home Office data shows. This is around 20% down on this time last year when more than 25,000 people had already made the journey, according to PA news agency analysis.But Rishi Sunak continued to defend his "stop the boats" plan as he faced questions from broadcasters and

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Prime Minister has "failed to get a grip" on Channel crossings as the total for 2023 passed 20,000.The provisional total for small boat crossings in 2023 to date is 20,101, Home Office data shows. This is around 20% down on this time last year when more than 25,000 people had already made the journey, according to PA news agency analysis.But Rishi Sunak continued to defend his "stop the boats" plan as he faced questions from broadcasters and insisted the Government was making progress.The Prime Minister urged people to "have confidence" in his plan as he claimed the lower number of Channel crossings compared to this time last year showed it was "working".