Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to be "relentless" in tackling small boat crossings in the English Channel during a visit to Dover. He acknowledged that crossings have dropped considerably compared with figures recorded at the same point last year, yet insisted he remains far from "complacent" on the matter.
Mr Burnham toured Dover's joint command room — the central hub for monitoring small boat activity — where officers from the NCA, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Border Security Command work around the clock to track movements using surveillance drones.
'We're just going to be relentless'
"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. So we're just going to be relentless," Mr Burnham said.
"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," he added.
During the visit, Mr Burnham was shown a small vessel used by 96 migrants in May this year, alongside a surveillance drone deployed to detect small boat activity and the operations room.
Enforcement and seizures
Since the beginning of 2025, the number of National Crime Agency officers dedicated to tackling organised immigration crime has more than doubled, rising from 376 to almost 800. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood visited NCA headquarters in Stratford.
More than 1,000 small boats or engines have been seized since Labour took office in 2024 and vowed to clamp down on the supply of equipment to smuggling gangs. Ms Mahmood said the Government's efforts were starting to "bear fruit", though she conceded further reforms were necessary.
"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."
Latest crossing figures
On Sunday, the latest figures revealed that more than 2,000 people have made the crossing via the English Channel since Mr Burnham became Prime Minister. Home Office data shows 326 migrants arrived on Saturday in four boats, pushing the total to 2,057 since he succeeded Sir Keir Starmer on July 20.
There were 1,962 crossings during the same period last year, with the overall figure for the year to date having fallen considerably compared with the same point in 2025.
Mr Burnham said he wanted to "grip" the issue of small boat arrivals rather than "play politics" with it. "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," he said.
"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."
Record daily arrivals this year
Wednesday saw the highest number of small boat arrivals across the English Channel this year, with 752 migrants reaching the UK. The provisional figure for the year to date stands at 14,526.
This represents a 43% reduction compared with the equivalent period last year (25,436) and a 14% decrease on the corresponding timeframe in 2024 (16,903). The Home Office highlights that small boat arrivals vary due to weather conditions, with heightened activity during warmer summer periods.
Political reaction
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," he added.
Liberal Democrat immigration and asylum spokesperson Will Forster commented: "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."
