Small boat record smashed again as 230 migrants smuggled into Britain on 'mega dinghy' - despite Labour claims its 'smash the gangs' policy is working

By DAVID BARRETT, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR Published: 10:28, 10 August 2026 | Updated: 10:56, 10 August 2026 A migrant mega-dinghy with 230 people aboard reached Britain overnight. It smashed the previous record for the largest number of migrants in a single dinghy – set just 17 days earlier with 165. The confirmed 230 arrivals – first reported by GB News – is more than the typical capacity of a Boeing 737 jet. People traffickers are currently thought to charge around £2,000 per head for illegal passage to Britain - meaning this single dinghy could have made them a staggering £450,000 profit. Their new mega dinghies are floating deathtraps and, at 42ft, are longer than a double-decker bus. It comes after a Home Office source unwisely insisted on Friday that Labour's plan to tackle the Channel crisis was 'beginning to bear fruit'. The overnight arrivals mean more than 900 migrants reached Britain over the weekend. In a social media post today, Reform leader Nigel Farage said: 'At 2.30am this morning, a boat carrying 230 people was taken into Dover. This is a record number in a single vessel. It's yet more proof that this illegal invasion is a national security emergency.' The migrant mega-dinghy - pictured in Dover today - with 230 people aboard reached Britain overnight Yesterday, French police did nothing more than watch as a baby and toddlers were carried aboard a dinghy to England Last week officials confirmed that traffickers are adapting their methods in a bid to circumvent Labour's 'smash the gangs' strategy. On Sunday French police looked on as a baby and toddlers were carried aboard a dinghy to England. Dozens of migrants clambered aboard the boat in the waves off Camiers beach, south of Boulogne. The youngest hauled aboard was a baby who appeared to be just months old. There were a number of other young children and women, too, alongside mostly young men. Enhanced policing designed to block the traffickers – such as by seizing boats and outboard motors - has seen gangs 'experiment' with using mega dinghies on the Channel, they said. They are also deploying co-ordinated dinghy launches from a wider area of the French and Belgian coast in a bid to evade detection. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Life jackets for sale at the French sports superstore Decathlon in Dunkirk French police watched on from the beach  But despite a 43 per cent reduction in the number of migrants reaching Britain year-on-year there is still the same level of demand for illegal crossings in migrant camps in northern France, it is understood.  Officials believe smugglers' use of the extra-large vessels – which are longer than a double-decker bus – increases the risk of a mass tragedy. An incident on Tuesday last week involving a mega-dinghy with 173 people aboard saw them rescued in a major operation after its motor caught fire. The terrifying scenes off the French coast were the closest to a 'mass casualty incident' that has been seen on the Channel in years, officials admitted. The Government scrapped the Conservatives' Rwanda asylum deal shortly after the 2024 General Election and instead attempted to tackle the small boats crisis through improved work by police and other law enforcement agencies. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood secured a new security deal with the French in April that will see £662million handed over by the British taxpayer over three years. Officials have insisted it is having an effect, despite Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp last month observing at first hand how gendarmes refused to intervene as migrants scrambled aboard a dinghy. Similar scenes were repeated on Sunday. A Home Office source said last week: 'Numbers are down, but we are not complacent. 'This Government is focused on what works - and our work is beginning to bear fruit.' In the wake of the latest mega dinghy arrival, a Home Office spokesman said: 'This latest incident demonstrates the reckless and dangerous tactics employed by the criminal gangs facilitating these crossings, who continue to put lives at risk by cramming ever greater numbers of people onto unseaworthy vessels. 'We are making progress, with the number of small boat crossings down this year and the lowest number recorded for the month of July since 2020. 'But we must go further, which is why we have signed a payment-by-results deal with the French to put 40 per cent more boots on the ground on French beaches.'