Burnham vows to be 'relentless' in tackling small boat crossings - as nearly 2,000 enter UK since he became PM

Speaking during a visit to Dover, he highlighted that crossings are down significantly compared with the numbers for this time last year, but said he is not “complacent” on the issue.

The latest figures show 326 migrants arrived on Saturday in four boats, bringing the number up to 2,057 since he took over from Sir Keir Starmer on July 20.

There were 1,962 crossings in the same period last year, with the total for the year so far having dropped significantly compared with this time in 2025.

The pledge comes after more than 60,000 migrants attempted to enter Europe after crossing the border from Morocco into Spain on Friday.

The incident saw tens of thousands of migrants attempt to swim across a section of sea to access the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, with the surge leaving at least 72 people dead.

With thousands of those crossing the border from Morocco still to be rounded up, the situation saw concerns raised about ongoing immigration issues on home soil.

On Sunday, Mr Burnham visited Dover’s joint command room, the hub for monitoring small boat crossings, where officers from the NCA, Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Border Security Command work to track movements across the strait using surveillance drones.

“Clearly, progress is being made, but we’re not complacent, and it’s why I am here.

“It’s why I’ve come down on Sunday to see the team to listen to what they think needs to be done, what further can be done.

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“So we’re just going to be relentless.

“People want to see this issue addressed.

“I heard that on the doorsteps in Makerfield, but we also need to build a system that offers safe routes for people as well, because that also takes away the selling point of the gangs.

“So on every level we’ve got to cover this … crucially increasing the enforcement activity.”

During the visit Mr Burnham was shown a small boat which 96 migrants had used in May this year, then a surveillance drone used to detect small boat activity and the ops room.

Mr Burnham said he wanted to “grip” the issue of small boat arrivals rather than “play politics” with it. Asked if he wanted to change the tone of the debate on the issue, he said: “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.”

Wednesday marked the busiest day for small boat crossings across the English Channel so far this year, with 752 migrants arriving in the UK.

The provisional total for the year so far is 14,526.

This is 43% lower than the number recorded by this time last year (25,436) and down 14% on the same period in 2024 (16,903).

The Home Office notes that small boat crossings fluctuate because of changes in the weather, with peaks in the warmer summer months.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood meanwhile visited NCA headquarters in Stratford.

Ms Mahmood said the Government’s work to tackle small boat crossing were beginning to “bear fruit”, although she acknowledged further reforms were needed.

“It’s why I’m pursuing immigration reform to address the pull factors that draw people into boats in the Channel,” she said.

“I want to change the calculus. I want them to change their mind about whether they get on the boat in the first place.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “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 (European Convention on Human Rights) so all illegal immigrants can be deported with a week of arrival.”

The Liberal Democrats called for stronger ties with Europe to stop crossings.

Lib Dem immigration and asylum spokesperson Will Forster said: “To regain control of our borders, the government must redouble its efforts to rebuild our broken relationship with Europe, go after the criminal networks profiting from misery and continue to cut down the asylum backlog.”