A YEAR high of 705 illegal migrants crossed the Channel in a dozen small boats on Tuesday — as Ministers plot a new one in, one out asylum scheme.

Some 8,888 migrants have made the dangerous journey this year, which is 42 per cent higher than this time in 2024.

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And Tuesday’s record surpassed the previous highest figure for this year, which was Saturday’s 656 migrants on 11 boats.

PM Sir Keir Starmer is facing added pressure, having promised to “smash the gangs” in a bid to stem the flow of perilous crossings.

And it comes as the government talks to officials in Paris over a new scheme to accept legal migrants seeking to join their families in the UK in exchange for illegal entrants who would be sent back to France.

Tories last night again said the PM’s scrapping of their Rwanda deportation plan was a “catastrophic mistake”.

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Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Nearly 9,000 illegal immigrants have already arrived this year, the worst start on record — and 705 crossings in a single day with no sign they will ever leave.

“Labour scrapped our deterrent before it even began and replaced it with nothing.

“Now crossings are surging, extremists and criminals are slipping through the net — and British taxpayers are picking up the bill.”

At the same point last year the total stood at 6,265. And 2025’s figure is 81 per cent higher than at this stage in 2023, when the total was 4,899.

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Peter Walsh, of Migration Observatory, said the deterrent effect of the proposed one in, one out scheme will depend on “if we send sufficiently large numbers back”.

Labour Minister Lilian Greenwood said: “It’s not a short-term issue. This is going to take really hard work to tackle the organised gangs preying on people.”

The Home Office said it is stepping up collaboration with France to tackle gangs.

It said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings which threaten lives and undermine security.”