Rishi Sunak says small boat crossings are down 20% and two more barges will be used to house 1,000 asylum seekers

SMALL boat crossings are down 20 per cent on this time last year, the PM today revealed.

During a major speech in Dover, the PM insisted: “Our plan is starting to work.”

But he warned that there’s still a “long way to go”.

Mr Sunak hailed a 90% drop in the number of Albanians crossing the channel.

But just 1,800 out of tens of thousands have been kicked out of Britain.

Meanwhile, the refusal rate for modern slavery asylum claims have tripled since strict new rules around the burden of proof were introduced.

In Dover the PM unveiled two new barges will be purchased to house migrants.

The giant boats will join the Bibby Stockholm, which is moored in Portland Port.

Mr Sunak said he’d “wait to announce” where the new barges will be located.

But he insisted the government undertakes “extensive engagement with local communities in advance of other large sites or barges”.

Mr Sunak warned: “Our generosity of spirit is being used against us.”

The PM is under huge pressure to put an end to the thousands of dinghies that land on Britain’s shores, packed full with illegal migrants.

A record 45,755 migrants made the dangerous crossing in 2022.

Since then Downing Street say they’ve hiked the number of illegal working raids by more than 50%.

And the legacy asylum backlog is down almost a fifth since December

Mr Sunak said: “Some said this problem was insoluble, or just a fact of 21st century life.

“They’d lost faith in politicians to put in the hard yards to do something about it. And of course, we still have a long way to go. But in the five months since I launched the plan, crossings are now down 20% compared to last year.

“This is the first time since this problem began that arrivals between January and May have fallen compared to the year before.”

The PM added: “With grit and determination, the Government can fix this and we are using every tool at our disposal.”

During a visit to Somerset, Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer slammed the PM’s pledge to tackle small boats as “like Groundhog Day”.

He said: “I think everybody wants to make sure that we stop the boats, we don’t want people making that dangerous journey.

“All we’ve really had from the Government though is the announcement of a policy that doesn’t work and then the reannouncement of the same policy, essentially.”

Former Brexit Party chief Nigel Farage raged: “Sunak is deluded.

“Stop the boats is not working, it’s just windy!”

This year Mr Sunak announced the flagship Illegal Migration Bill as a key mechanism to tackle crossings.

The Bill will see only under-18s and the genuinely sick will be allowed to apply for asylum in the UK.

While they wait, holiday parks, student digs, military accommodation and even cruise ships will be used to house migrants instead of expensive four and five-star hotels.

The Bibby Stockholm has already arrived in Britain and is currently being prepared to onboard hundreds on new residents.

All other arrivals will be deported home or to a safe third-country like Rwanda.

The law is expected to be held up by lefty lawyers using the courts to keep migrants in Britain.

Mr Sunak has even admitted small boat migrants could STILL be arriving by the time of the next general election.