An inflatable boat seen carrying a record 230 migrants across the English Channel is a sign that a deal with France to crack down on people smugglers is working, a UK cabinet minister has said.The vessel – dubbed a mega dinghy – was spotted off the coast of France, crammed with asylum seekers making the perilous journey to Britain.Recent weeks have seen the record for the number of migrants on any one boat creep up from 165 on July 23 to 173 last week — the number on a vessel that capsized when it caught fire in the English Channel - before Monday's record-breaking trip.But overall numbers are down by around 45 per cent compared to this time last year.Angela Rayner, a member of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s cabinet, said the trend was a result of a £660 million (US$891 million) three-year agreement with France, under which riot police have been deployed on beaches and payment is based on results for the first time. She said the people smugglers were taking greater risks by putting more people on boats to make up for the fact they were able to make fewer crossings.“We've seen a reduction in the number of boats that are coming over, and we've also seen a huge increase in the amount of deportations of people that come here illegally,” she told the BBC.“So we're cracking down on those that are in the country illegally and removing those that shouldn't be here.”Ms Rayner contrasted the deal with France with a plan recently announced by the right-wing populist Reform UK party to deploy the Royal Navy to stop migrants crossing in small boats, a plan that has been greeted with scepticism.She said the Labour government would take “actual practical steps on something that is really difficult” and will “work with the French to stop this from happening, and we're already seeing the results of that”.The record breaking boat pictured in the English Channel. Photo: SNSMShow caption: The record breaking boat pictured in the English Channel. Ph…The increase in numbers also coincided with the ‘one-in,-one-out’ deal with France under which a migrant arriving in the UK from France by small boat can be returned in exchange for another person being brought legally to the UK to claim asylum.The increase per boat has also been attributed to efforts by the French and UK authorities to seize the boats and prevent them from getting to people-smuggling gangs.Ms Rayner condemned “criminal gangs that are putting children and women into vessels that are not seaworthy”.The picture of the mega dinghy was taken by the Berck-sur-Mer branch of the French lifeboat association SNSM.“Over the past three months, we’ve been seeing more and more 15-metre boats passing through.” said its director, Jean-Marc Lamblin.Mr Lamblin added that when the 150 migrants per boat figure was recently surpassed, “we didn’t think there could be any more, but there really is no limit now”.But the opposition Conservative Party's shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, said of the mega dinghy “this is now beyond a joke”.“The French authorities could easily have stopped a vessel this size from embarking in shallow waters,” he said.“I recently saw for myself French Gendarmes standing by and doing nothing while illegal immigrants boarded in knee-deep water. Shabana Mahmood is handing over £660 million of our money while this happens. It’s a disgrace.”