A record 230 people were reported to have arrived at Dover after crossing the English Channel illegally from France in a single small boat, surpassing the previous record of 165 set last month. The dinghy arrived during the early hours of 10 August, taking the overall number of small-boat arrivals in 2026 to 14,819.
TalkTV discussion sparks criticism
Discussing the "breaking news" on TalkTV, presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer and former Cabinet minister Lord Redwood issued a scathing assessment of the Labour government's handling of the situation. Lord Redwood said: "It's a disaster and it makes Britain look weak and the government doesn't seem to be concerned about the problem at all. Mr. Burnham should go straight to Dover instead of these silly walkabout tours, listening to people trying to get confirmation that they're worried about the cost of living."
Lord Redwood demands action
Lord Redwood argued that Burnham needs to be doing more to tackle the issue as he continued: "He's needed in Dover. He needs to talk to our border force." He also questioned whether tactics would change, asking: "Will they change their tactics when they pick these people up in mid channel? Will they at least arrest the people who are driving the boats because they can see who's driving the boat when they go to the rescue?"
He added: "All the people on the boats should be required to tell the authorities in Britain who they paid and how they found out about the illegal boat trip because he needs to take his smashing the gangs rhetoric seriously and they're not really trying."
Call to France
Lord Redwood also urged Burnham to "get on the phone straight away to the president of France and say that we're not going to keep on paying a big chunk of our £660 million over three years for this appalling service." He claimed the French authorities "just sit and watch" and "allow" the illegal immigrants to get onto the boats.
The 75-year-old fumed: "They don't try and stop them. They don't arrest them. They don't puncture the boat when it's in shallow waters, all the things that would be much safer to do than the rescue mid channel which our border force vessels at considerable expense are forced to do by the complete inadequacy of the French authorities."
