Authorities have been warned to brace for a possible surge in small boat crossings from France to Britain’s South Coast after a large inflatable vessel successfully reached Portsmouth over the weekend.

Officials in France believe “far more” migrant boats could attempt the much longer sea journey from Normandy in the weeks ahead, raising fresh concerns over the Channel migrant crisis.

Migration specialists in Britain have called on the Home Office to prepare for a potential new phase in the crossings after a dinghy carrying 140 people arrived in Portsmouth on Sunday, where tense scenes unfolded as demonstrators clashed with police.

The inflatable is understood to have covered roughly 70 miles from the Normandy shoreline, marking the first time a migrant boat has completed such an extended route to the UK.

The crossing took place far away from the traditional route used by small boats between Calais and Dover, signalling what experts fear may become a significant shift in tactics.

A senior French interior ministry source told the Daily Mail: ‘The geographical focus of the people smugglers is definitely changing.

‘They are finding it much harder to get boats launched in the Pas-de-Calais and so are moving west, across to Normandy.

‘We expect far more of the mega-dinghies to appear here in the coming weeks and months.

 ‘The success on Sunday proved the voyage can be done.’

The Home Office confirmed 625 migrants reached Britain on Sunday, the highest daily total since July 29.

A further as-yet-unconfirmed number, thought to be about 130, arrived in the early hours of Monday.

Occupants of the Portsmouth dinghy, including 20 women and eight ‘very young children’, refused rescue after their outboard motor broke down, according to French officials.

The 46ft mega-dinghy left an isolated beach near Jobourg, Normandy, in the ‘very early hours’ of Sunday morning, a senior search-and-rescue official said.

‘Jobourg is not patrolled by police, because nobody would expect a boat to leave from such an isolated, rocky spot,’ the source said.

‘Within an hour or so the boat was in serious difficulty, and passengers on board made Mayday calls on their mobile phones.’

Its outboard motor failed, leaving the dinghy drifting dangerously 14 miles off the French coast.

‘We asked them who wanted to be rescued, and the answer was no one,’ said the source.

‘Only a few migrants were wearing life jackets, so we handed out jackets to all of them. It seemed incomprehensible that they were risking their lives without life jackets.

‘A second outboard motor was made to work, so the boat could continue on its voyage to Britain.’

Five French rescue boats and two helicopters were involved in an operation that oversaw the dinghy’s 14-hour crossing.

A spokesman for the Maritime Prefecture for the English Channel and the North Sea said migrants were not transferred to rescue vessels due to concerns over the ‘structural fragility’ of their dinghy.

The crossing was later monitored by British authorities – including a Coastguard aircraft and RNLI lifeboats – and escorted into Eastney marina, three miles from Portsmouth’s main harbour.

Hundreds of demonstrators blocked the road to the marina, preventing migrants from departing by coach.

Border control experts said heightened tensions over the Channel crisis would make it ‘far more complicated’ for UK authorities.

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Former chief inspector of borders and immigration David Neal said: ‘It now seems unavoidable that trafficking gangs will launch more small boats from French beaches far away from the main security patrols around Calais.

‘If they have not done so already the Home Office should begin putting in place detailed plans on how to handle arrivals along the South Coast.

‘This will need to include safer and more accessible ports where migrants can disembark without triggering the kind of public order incidents seen at Portsmouth on Sunday night.

‘There is a serious risk of disorder and the Home Office must pay close attention.

‘All the evidence suggests that dealing with these small boat crossings is going to get far more complicated, both on the water and on land.’

Former Border Force director general Tony Smith said: ‘Extra French patrols in Calais and Dunkirk may have reduced overall numbers – but displacement like this is inevitable.

‘And it’s hard to see how French police can prevent it, given the length of coastline they would have to cover to do so.’

He said that while France refuses to take back migrant boats the ‘only way’ to tackle the crisis would be to introduce ‘an effective detention and removals deterrent’ in Britain.

He said it would involve refusing admission to the UK to all undocumented migrants, by excluding all asylum, human rights and modern slavery claims.

The Conservatives condemned Labour’s handling of the weekend’s events, including a separate anti-migrant protest in Dover on Saturday.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘The last 24 hours has exposed the Government’s chaotic mishandling of this crisis, with mega-dinghies crossing the Channel bringing floods of illegal immigrants whenever the seas are calm – and the French do nothing to stop it.

‘The Government’s handling of this crossing has been totally inept.

‘Their scandalous incompetence is risking further disorder.’

Hampshire police and crime commissioner Donna Jones said it would be a ‘significant issue’ if small boat arrivals began spreading across the South Coast.

‘My big concern now is that Portsmouth does not become a destination of choice for the people traffickers who are trying to bring people across to Britain. This is a real concern,’ she said.

‘We have hundreds of miles of coastline across southern England and if Dover is no longer the destination of choice, and instead there is going to be a spread across southern England, this is a significant issue for the government.’

Zia Yusuf, Reform UK home affairs spokesman, blamed Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood for the weekend protests.

He accused them of ‘inciting disorder by refusing to operate a border of any kind’.

Policing minister Sarah Jones told MPs: ‘We remain alert to the potential for crossings on less frequently targeted stretches of water off our coastline.’

More than 209,000 migrants have reached Britain since the crisis began in 2018.

Since the start of this year the running total is 17,138, down 43 per cent on the same point last year.

The all-time daily record for small boat arrivals remains 1,305, set in September 2022.

British officials insisted there was no evidence that people smugglers had changed their tactics.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘What’s clear is that through our work we are gripping this issue across the board.’

– READ MORE: While the Home Office faces crises from migrant boats to masked protests, civil servants are offered discounted massages to be enjoyed during working hours 

-The migrant crisis is now a national emergency and if Burnham keeps ignoring it, these ugly protests will only grow: DR ALAN MENDOZA

Sticky Fingers frontman Dylan Frost and his longtime partner, Elyssa Ford, have become embroiled in a legal dispute, with police applying for Apprehended Violence Orders against both following an alleged confrontation.

In a notable turn, the protection order applications involving Frost, 35, and Ford, 25, are understood to have been filed by the same police officer.

The AVO proceedings relate to an alleged incident between the couple and are set to come before Waverley Local Court on Wednesday.

Further details about the allegations are expected to be outlined when the case is heard in court.

The legal development adds a significant new twist to the couple’s relationship. Frost and Ford have been together for several years and welcomed their first child in early 2025.

Ford has largely kept her personal life out of the spotlight, while Frost’s career as a musician has been dogged by a string of controversies both on and off the stage.

The couple appeared to have settled into family life after welcoming their child, but their relationship has now become the subject of police intervention.

It remains unclear whether the pair are still romantically involved.

For Frost, the latest court battle is the newest controversy to dog the New Zealand-born rocker throughout his career.

He is the lead vocalist and guitarist for Sydney indie band Sticky Fingers, which developed a devoted following after forming in the city’s inner west.

But alongside the band’s success has been a colourful history of off-stage behaviour that has made Frost a tabloid fixture.

Of course, it is not the first time Frost and Ford have found themselves involved in a police matter.

In 2024, Frost found himself before the courts after he was accused of shoplifting from a Woolworths Metro in Haymarket, in Sydney’s CBD.

Police alleged he stole a $6.50 roast chicken and a $2.65 Ice Break Double Espresso coffee from the supermarket shortly after 1pm on June 27.

Ford, who was pregnant, was also accused of stealing a packet of Life Savers Raspberry Stix from the same Woolworths store at about the same time.

The alleged haul – a hot chook, an iced coffee and a packet of lollies – was hardly the stuff of rock’n’roll excess, but nevertheless landed the couple in court.

Indeed, the supermarket saga was almost comically low-rent compared with the rock-star lifestyle Frost had cultivated.

Both Frost and Ford entered pleas of not guilty. His charge was later withdrawn and he described it outside court as ‘far-fetched’.

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Frost’s history of controversy stretches back well before his alleged supermarket misadventure.

The singer became embroiled in a major controversy in 2016 when the band announced an indefinite hiatus following a wave of criticism directed at its frontman.

At the time, Sticky Fingers was one of the most talked-about acts to emerge from Sydney’s inner west, but the band’s rapid rise was accompanied by increasingly intense scrutiny of Frost’s behaviour and comments.

The allegations against him included claims of racism, sexism, transphobia and aggressive behaviour.

The decision to step away came as Sticky Fingers were enjoying growing success, making the hiatus a major blow for the band and its devoted following.

Frost later addressed the criticism during an interview with Triple J’s Hack, where he responded to questions about his past behaviour by saying: ‘Boys will be boys.’

At the time, the band released a statement on Instagram insisting the comments were ‘in no way intended to show we aren’t genuinely on a path to positive change’.

Despite the controversy, Sticky Fingers eventually returned, releasing new music and resuming touring.

The band went on to rebuild its career and retain a loyal fanbase, but the controversies continued.

In 2018, Frost was reportedly thrown out of a pub in Newtown after allegedly verbally abusing a transgender woman.

He was also accused in 2016 of physically threatening Indigenous singer Thelma Plum.

In 2019, Frost was reportedly involved in a physical altercation with Sticky Fingers bassist Paddy Cornwall.

Cornwall was later sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment in connection with the incident, although Frost has not been charged in relation to that matter.

The various controversies have followed Frost through periods of professional success and personal upheaval, often threatening to overshadow the music that made him famous.

Frost has also previously spoken publicly about his struggles with alcohol and his mental health.

In a 2016 Facebook statement, he said he had been diagnosed the previous year with what he described as ‘bipolar schizophrenia’.

Now, Frost’s latest legal troubles have moved firmly away from the stage.

The AVO proceedings involving Ford are particularly significant given she is not only his longtime partner but also the mother of his child.

The unusual circumstances, with police seeking orders involving both sides of the relationship, have thrust their private life into the public spotlight.

The precise circumstances of the dispute are yet to be aired in court.

Barnaby Joyce has found himself in another tense exchange with Sarah Ferguson, returning to one of the ABC’s most prominent current affairs programs in combative fashion.

The One Nation MP appeared on 7.30 on Monday night to promote the party’s sweeping new housing policy, which would let renters and mortgage holders access up to a quarter of their superannuation contributions over three years.

It marked Joyce’s first time back on the program since July, when a moment in which he shouted at his dog Stella during a live interview went viral.

‘It’s an absolute welcome to be back,’ Joyce told Ferguson as the interview began.

But the discussion soon became disorderly, with Joyce appearing ill-prepared as Ferguson pressed him on whether he and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson had modelled the inflationary impact of the party’s controversial superannuation proposal.

Ferguson then challenged Joyce to model the lifetime losses Australians of different ages would incur if they opted to act on the policy.

‘Well, once more, how long is a piece of string?’ Joyce fired back.

‘Here we go folks, I’ll try and answer something which we’ll need an annuity table and will also need a sort of lineal regression, but I’ll do it for you, straight down the barrel.

Ferguson interrupted: ‘Barnaby Joyce, if I may, obviously this is a policy that your party has come up with, so we would expect you as the Treasury spokesman for that party to be across it, just try it.’

Joyce snapped back: ‘The Treasury spokesman [yes], not Jesus Christ.

‘You need to give me the details of these things if you’re going to put them forward to me.’

Ferguson pressed on, reading out figures that a 30-year-old earning the average wage of $108,000 would be $94,000 worse off, a 40-year-old $51,000 while a 50-year-old would be $27,000 worse off.

‘Well, folks, how on earth. I mean, this is ridiculous. This is like saying, “Well, look, I’m now going to give you an incredibly complex question”. Now, Sarah, I’m happy to come back to you tomorrow. And as I said on another stable, and as long as you’re prepared to pay my accountancy fees, we can do this regression analysis,’ he said. 

The aim of the policy is to give Australians breathing space by allowing them to access more of their own money while facing cost-of-living pressures, without touching existing super balances. 

Employers would continue to make the full compulsory 12 per cent super contribution.

Aussie workers would then be able to choose to receive three per cent as wages, while the remaining nine per cent would go towards their retirement nest egg.

Nothing would change for those who opt to keep the full 12 per cent in super.

Under the proposed scheme, a couple earning a combined $168,000 a year would take home an additional $4,300 a year after tax, or $82 a week.

An individual worker earning $90,500 would pocket about $2,300 extra, or $44 a week, for three years.

Naomi Osaka faced a wave of online ridicule from tennis fans after unveiling another daring US Open walkout outfit, then suffering a straight-sets defeat to world No. 2 Elena Rybakina on Monday afternoon.

The four-time Grand Slam winner has been one of the biggest talking points at Flushing Meadows, drawing attention throughout the tournament with a series of bold, runway-style looks that have pushed well beyond traditional tennis fashion.

But the focus on Osaka’s US Open fashion quickly turned against her after her round-of-16 match, as Rybakina overpowered the Japanese star in a ruthless 6-1, 6-4 victory.

Before play began, Osaka had once again made an entrance, walking onto the court in a striking oversized hooded coat finished with a heavy faux-fur lining.

The streetwear-inspired ensemble marked a clear departure from her earlier outfits at the tournament, but after Osaka struggled to make an impact on court, social media users were quick to mock the look.

One critical viewer wrote on X: ‘Osaka comes out in a ridiculous coat and gets absolutely smoked in 1st set. Maybe leave the ludicrous bling in the locker room.’

Another fan took aim at the pre-match theatrics, writing: ‘Clothes are great, but let’s see if she can back it up on the court. Style points don’t win matches.’

‘What is this, a modeling shoot? The outfits are garish!’ another spectator blasted.

‘Naomi Osaka latest outfit, looks like an oversized fur coat number? Meanwhile her opponent and fellow elite athlete Elena Rybakina entered in her playing outfit, not seeking any attention just here to play a match of tennis,’ another wrote. 

The online backlash proved swift as Rybakina wasted no time seizing complete control of the contest, ruthless on serve and blasting groundstrokes past Osaka to snatch the opening set 6-1 in a blistering 22 minutes.

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Osaka offered stiffer resistance in the second set, however, Rybakina’s relentless power proved decisive once again, breaking through in the crucial stages to seal the set 6-4 and punch her ticket to the quarterfinals in just over an hour. 

Speaking after the game, Rybakina said: ‘I honestly didn’t expect it. I played really well today. Feeling the ball was really good from my side. 

‘A bit lucky in some moments. I caught some lines. Super happy with the performance. Naomi is a tough opponent. 

‘I knew no matter the score I needed to focus on each ball. She’s also an aggressive player. I’m very glad with the way I played today. Thank you so much for an amazing atmosphere guys.’

Osaka, meanwhile, had been the center of attention throughout the tournament after showing off a range of bold pre-match looks at the US Open.

However, after arriving for her first-round match at Roland Garros in a flowing black skirt and corset, then unveiling a shimmering gold dress, her opponent Laura Siegemund aimed a pointed comment in her direction. 

‘I came here to play tennis, not to put on a fashion show,’ Siegemund had told TNT Sports. ‘And if others want to put on a fashion show, then they should go ahead and do it. That’s totally fine with me.’ 

But Donna Vekic, who Osaka faced in the second-round, told critics to ‘relax’ and embrace Osaka’s approach. 

‘Some people take tennis way too seriously,’ she said. ‘Relax, it’s just an outfit. I think it’s good that she’s doing different things, expressing herself through fashion. 

‘Whether it’s good or bad, that’s a different thing, it’s fashion.’