Small boat crossings are down – so what’s behind the drop?

Migrants disembark from the French rescue ship Argonaute following their rescue at sea after their boat caught fire during an attempt to cross the English Channel from France to Britain (Picture: AFP via Getty) It’s summer, parliament is in recess and small boats are back at the top of the news agenda. Same old debates again? Not quite. There’s an unusual flavour to the bickering this year, as the number of people arriving in the UK to claim asylum after taking a small boat over the English Channel has gone down this year. Wait, the number can go down? Yes, and not just a little bit. Arrivals are down about 45% compared to the same period last year. So instead of arguing about how to get small boat crossings to come down, politicians are arguing about what’s making them come down. On Monda