Yvette Cooper refuses to set target for cutting Channel crossings saying the issue is too 'complex' after another 900 migrants arrived in two days

Yvette Cooper refused to set a target for cutting Channel crossings today after hundreds more migrants arrived. In an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg recorded as she visited Rome for talks on the issue yesterday, the Cabinet minister argued that Labour had 'intensified' border security measures since winning power. In an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg recorded as she visited Rome for talks on the issue yesterday, Yvette Cooper argued that Labour had 'intensified' border security measures since winning power There were 609 Channel boat arrivals on Thursday making it the busiest December day for crossings on record Some 34,880 people have arrived in Britain on small boats so far this year, up 20 per cent on this time last year but down 22 per cent on 2022. 'It is revealing that stopping illegal immigration isn't even one of Keir Starmer's six milestones, and their lack of a deterrent has led to small boat crossings going up by 18 per cent since the election,' he said. Ms Cooper pledged a crackdown on 'exploitative' illegal working to address 'the promise of illegal jobs that are used by criminal smuggling gangs to sell spaces in small boats'.