The UK government spent almost £25 million deploying the Royal Navy to prevent migrants from crossing the English Channel illegally, according to a Freedom of Information request by The Sun on Sunday.
Operation Isotrope cost taxpayers around £84,553 per day. The Navy had taken charge of operations for eight months until the Home Office resumed responsibility in January, but despite their efforts, there have been more Channel crossings in 2023 than in January and February of 2022 combined.
The operation was launched by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson last April to ensure “no boat makes it to the UK undetected”. Although it did not solve the crisis at the border, it cost a total of £24.77 million.
“A recorded 45,756 migrants landed in small boats in 2022. An additional 1,180 arrived in 27 vessels last month,” the Home Office and Ministry of Defence reported.
As of February 20, 890 people have been brought to shore in 20 boats this month.
The busiest day of 2023 was January 25 when 321 people were brought to the UK in eight boats, while the busiest day on record was August 22, 2022, when 1,295 people were rescued.
Story above derived from this News Link -> Government spent nearly £25million deploying the Royal Navy to the English Channel last year
