Home and Security editor Mark White has warned of a "national security risk" posed by the surge in illegal Channel crossings, highlighting concerns over unidentified migrants arriving in the UK.

Mark told GB News that many young men crossing the Channel are instructed by people traffickers to discard their identification documents, leaving authorities with no knowledge of who they actually are.

He emphasised that security services across Europe have identified individuals posing national security risks among migrant populations, including former Isis fighters who previously operated in Syria.

The warning comes after a staggering 1,194 migrants arrived in the UK on 18 small boats on Saturday, marking one of the highest single-day totals on record.

Mark White told GB News that the surge is a "security risk"

Defence Secretary John Healey admitted over the weekend that Britain has "lost control" of its borders and likened lifeboats collecting migrants from the Channel to a "taxi" service.

He also criticised French police, claiming they are failing to use new powers which allow them to halt small boats from leaving the Calais coast.

Speaking on GB News, Mark White explained: "There is very much a national security risk in what we're seeing.

"Many of these young men are told by the people traffickers to throw their identification documents away, so we have no idea who the majority of these people coming to this country actually are.

"And we know, according to security services around Europe, that there are people who pose a risk to national security in various countries, often former ISIS fighters in Syria who have come back into European countries, who are coming across in the likes of the small boats into the UK.

"We only need to look around Europe at the moment to see all of the terrorist attacks that have been committed recently, particularly in Germany, by asylum seekers and migrants.

"More than half a dozen in the ten in the last ten months alone. Here in this country, we've had terrorist attacks involving asylum seekers such as in Reading a few years back, the Liverpool Maternity Hospital, Hartlepool.

"There is absolutely a national security risk in what we're seeing playing out in the Channel.

"We saw that in the Channel this weekend: the most incredible scenes of almost 1,200, mainly young men, coming across, trying to break into the country by circumventing our border controls."

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended his decision to scrap the Rwanda scheme when questioned by GB News Political Correspondent Katherine Forster about failing to keep Britain safe on border security, with crossings up 42 per cent this year compared to last.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended his decision to scrap the Rwanda scheme TODAYE

"The reason we stood down the Rwanda scheme was because it cost a fortune, and only a handful of people went on a voluntary basis to Rwanda, and it didn't deter anybody," Starmer explained.

"I'm not up for gimmicks, I'm up for the hard work of working with partners, enhancing the powers that law enforcement have in my determination to take down the gangs that are running this vile trade."

Starmer assured that his Government is working "very closely" with France and giving enhanced powers to law enforcement through the borders Bill currently going through Parliament.