Prime Minister Andy Burnham has highlighted falling small boat arrivals and record levels of returns as the Government announces a further expansion of joint action with France against people-smuggling gangs.
Writing on X, Burnham said the UK had recorded the lowest number of summer small boat arrivals since 2020, while more than 80,000 people with no right to remain have been returned from the UK since July 2024. Official Home Office figures record 80,286 returns between July 2024 and July 2026, including both enforced and voluntary returns.
Burnham said:
“I said I’d do politics differently. So these are the facts.”
He also pointed to a sharp reduction in the number of asylum seekers being accommodated in hotels and said annual returns were now at their highest level since 2016.
The Government is now going further through its partnership with France, with the total number of French officers deployed to tackle Channel crossings rising to nearly 1,050. Measures include a new 45-strong surge team for western French beaches, an expanded intelligence and judicial unit, and a specialist 75-officer team in northern France.
The Prime Minister said:
“Smuggling gangs are constantly adapting their tactics, and we need to respond quickly and stay one step ahead of the criminals facilitating dangerous crossings.”
Official figures show UK-French cooperation has prevented more than 48,000 attempted crossings, while French authorities stopped 185 small boat events and around 4,300 attempted crossings in the first three months of the latest agreement. Small boat arrivals are also down compared with last year.
Burnham is hosting French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street on Thursday, with migration and border security expected to be among the central issues discussed alongside European security, Ukraine and economic cooperation.
The Prime Minister argued that closer international cooperation was essential to tackling the criminal networks behind Channel crossings.
“The small boats crisis is a shared European challenge, and no country can solve it alone.”
He added that working with France and other international partners would help the Government “restore order and control to our borders and prevent smugglers exploiting vulnerable migrants”.
The latest Home Office data also shows that small boat arrivals are down compared with last year, while the Government says the summer of 2026 recorded the lowest number of arrivals since 2020.
The figures provide Burnham with early evidence for his argument that a combination of stronger enforcement, higher returns and practical cooperation with European partners can begin to bring greater control to the Channel.
