Nigel Farage on small boat arrivals, PMQs 25 March 2026
The statement
But 70,000 people later, with 1,000 in the last week and too many young men who pose a threat to national security, is it not time to admit that “smash the gangs” has been a total, abject failure—along with, frankly, most of his other policies?
Nigel Farage, 25 March 2026. Source
What the sources report
- Home Office, Migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats, time series to 9 October 2026, table SB_02 reports people detected crossing the Channel in small boats (week ending 22 March 2026): 712peoplesrc
- Home Office, Migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats, time series to 9 October 2026, table SB_02 reports people detected crossing the Channel in small boats (week ending 15 March 2026): 357peoplesrc
- Home Office, Immigration system statistics, year ending December 2025 reports people arriving by small boat (2025): 41472peoplesrc
- Home Office, Immigration system statistics, year ending December 2024 reports people arriving by small boat (2024): 36816peoplesrc
Notes
The Home Office weekly series shows 712 people detected in small boats in the week ending 22 March 2026 and 357 in the week ending 15 March 2026.
The Home Office reports 41,472 small boat arrivals in 2025 and 36,816 in 2024.
The statement does not give a start date for the 70,000.
Each figure's own page, with every change: People arriving by small boat (2024), People arriving by small boat (2025), People detected crossing the Channel in small boats (week ending 22 March 2026), People detected crossing the Channel in small boats (week ending 15 March 2026).
Receipts
Archived copies of every source this page repeats, each with its SHA-256 fingerprint.
- Parliament recordStatement source: Nigel Farage
- Government publicationHome Office, Migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats, time series to 9 October 2026, table SB_02: People detected crossing the Channel in small boats (week ending 22 March 2026)
- Government publicationHome Office, Migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats, time series to 9 October 2026, table SB_02: People detected crossing the Channel in small boats (week ending 15 March 2026)
- Government publicationHome Office, Immigration system statistics, year ending December 2025: People arriving by small boat (2025)
- Government publicationHome Office, Immigration system statistics, year ending December 2024: People arriving by small boat (2024)
- Government publicationHome Office: Migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats
- Government publicationHome Office: small boats time series to 9 October 2026 (ODS)
- Government publicationHome Office: How many people come to the UK via illegal entry routes (year ending December 2025)