Labour is bracing for illegal boat crossings to reach 50,000 since they were elected this week.

Labour has been accused of creating a “crisis over nothing” as the number of small boat crossings since the last election to reached 50,000.

Home Office data confirmed that 474 asylum seekers made the perilous crossing yesterday, taking the total since Keir Starmer became prime minister 13 months ago to 50,271.

According to the Daily Express, that is quicker than under Tory PMs Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “Labour has surrendered our borders, and the consequences are being felt in our communities, from rising crime to shocking cases of rape and sexual assault by recent arrivals.

“This is an invasion Labour are too cowardly to confront. Only the Conservatives will stop the crossings and restore control of Britain’s borders.”

The number of small boat crossings are a major source of embarrassment for Labour, which pledged during last year’s general election to “smash the people-smuggling gangs” responsible.

And even government minister Jacqui Smith, who served as the home secretary under Gordon Brown, told BBC Breakfast this morning that number pf crossings under Labour was “unacceptable”.

But independent migration policy researcher Zoe Gardner, told HuffPost UK the government is focusing on the wrong issue.

She said Labour should instead increase the........

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