Andy Burnham has insisted he wants to get a ‘grip’ of the small boats crisis, after more than 2,000 crossed the Channel into Britain during his first fortnight in power.
Mr Burnham travelled to Dover this afternoon for a visit to the country’s top migrant command room, as he championed a surge in border officers.
The new Prime Minister promised to ‘deal with it head on’ as he attempts to regain Labour’s credibility on illegal migration.
Speaking from the coast, Mr Burnham promised: ‘We have to deal with the issue rather than play politics with the issue. Just deal with it head on, grip it, and then make the changes that will bring that reassurance to the public.
‘The public don’t like the idea that the border looks like it’s not controlled.
‘We need to bring back that control, but also we need to offer support for people who genuinely need it.
‘It’s about changing the whole approach, and slowly but surely we are putting in place those building blocks of a very different approach to this issue. It’s working, but there’s more to be done.’
Hitting back, the Tories accused Mr Burnham of being ‘too weak’ to stop the ongoing migrant crossings, and called on him to follow their plan to quit the ECHR.
Andy Burnham visited Dover this morning as he pledged to ‘grip’ the ongoing small boats crisis
Visiting the migration nerve centre, Mr Burnham insisted Labour is tackling the crisis despite more than 2,000 migrants crossing the Channel since he became PM two weeks ago
Shabana Mahmood announced she has more than doubled the number of National Crime Agency officers taking on the people smugglers
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp blasted: ‘77,000 illegal immigrants have crossed since the election, including over 2,000 since Andy Burnham became prime minister.
‘Labour has not smashed the gangs as they promised over two years ago. I saw for myself just last week hundreds of illegal immigrants departing a French beach while the gendarmes Shabana Mahmood is paying for stood by and did nothing.
‘The Conservative plan is to leave the ECHR so all illegal immigrants can be deported within a week of arrival. If Andy Burnham was serious he would do this – but he’s too weak.’
Mr Burnham’s fresh promise to grip the crisis and restore Britain’s borders came as the Home Office confirmed a surge in border guards.
Shabana Mahmood, who retained the job in Mr Burnham’s reshuffle, said that officers at the National Crime Agency tasked with tackling organised immigration crime have more than doubled since the start of 2025.
They have increased from 376 to ‘almost 800’, and contributed to almost 300 arrests last year as they target the people smuggling gangs.
The department also said NCA officers, working alongside international allies, have seized more than 1,100 small boats and engines before they could be used to transport up to 72,000 migrants across the Channel.
Ms Mahmood, who visited the NCA’s headquarters in Stratford, East London, said: ‘We have more than doubled the number of NCA officers working on immigration crime to tackle the gangs who profit from illegal small boat crossings.
‘We have seized over a thousand boats and engines, arrested thousands of criminals, and stopped tens of thousands of attempted crossings.
‘There is more to be done, but this Government is restoring control at our border.’
2,000 new small boat migrants entered Britain since Mr Burnham entered Downing Street just two weeks ago, including 326 in four dinghies today.
It brings this year’s numbers up to 14,526.
Mr Burnham said he had been in contact with Spanish premier Pedro Sanchez following the scenes of chaos in Ceuta this week, when around 60,000 Moroccans swarmed the Spanish enclave on the north coast of Africa.
The Prime Minister cited Mr Sanchez’s claim that around 98% of the number have already been returned to Morocco, but warned: ‘There’s a broader issue about the Schengen area and our relationship with it.’
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