Record small boat crossing as French police watch baby loaded onto dinghy

A single dinghy carrying what the Sun and the Daily Express describe as a record number of migrants - more than two hundred - has crossed the Channel. The Daily Mail reports French police stood and watched as a baby, said to be months old, was carried aboard the packed vessel.

Nigel Farage, speaking to GB News, has warned that Britain will soon see thousands of illegal migrants crossing daily and called it a national security emergency. The Daily Mail notes the crossing comes despite Labour claims its "smash the gangs" policy is working. The Express reports Farage has revealed a deportation plan involving talks with a third country, though no detail is given.

The record isn't the crossing itself but the density - one boat, not a fleet. The operational question is whether the gangs are now confident enough to load a single vessel to that capacity, or desperate enough because alternatives have narrowed. Either reading is a problem: confidence means they expect to succeed; desperation means they will take greater risks with life. The presence of an infant on such a crossing, under the watch of French police, is the sort of detail that settles no argument but entrenches all of them.

Farage also faces a by-election in Clacton, where the Independent reports Labour leads Reform in polling. GB News separately reports that Rupert Lowe, leader of Restore Britain, has rejected Farage's call to unite the right with Reform UK.

What to watch: the Clacton by-election result, and whether the third-country deportation talks produce a named partner or remain a claim.