No 'switch' to stop small boats, Lucy Powell tells BBC

There is no "switch" to stop small boat crossings, and not every migrant boat can be intercepted, Labour's deputy leader has told the BBC.

Lucy Powell's comments came after two uncontrolled landings from the Channel in two days, at Folkestone and Samphire Hoe in Kent.

The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has ordered an urgent review by Border Security Command, calling the failure to intercept the two boats "not acceptable".

But the Conservatives say Labour has lost control of Britain's borders, and a "radically different" approach is needed.

A total of 781 people were recorded as arriving in 10 boats on Wednesday, the highest in a single day for far this year.

In a round of interviews with BBC local radio ahead of Labour's annual conference, Powell told BBC Solent: "We are taking all steps we can to really bear down on and eradicate the small boat crossings altogether.

"This has been a mammoth task across a whole range of different policy areas over the last couple of years, which is now starting to bear fruit, in that small boat crossings are significantly down this year - in fact significantly lower than at any time in the last six years.

"Obviously as we close down some avenues and we close down routes criminal gangs look to find new ways to deliver their terrible business model."

The thousands of migrants crossing the Channel are usually brought to shore by Border Security Command or RNLI boats.

Before Monday, no small boat arrivals to the UK coast without an escort had been officially recorded since September 6, 2025.

Uncontrolled landings are so rare that last year's incident was the only other one recorded since the Home Office began keeping data in 2023.

Powell told BBC Kent: "It's not easy, if we had a switch that we could switch tomorrow to stop all small boats, we would switch it".

Labour's deputy leader and Education Secretary told Radio 4's Today programme that "(You) can't stop everything all of the time.

"Of course, it's a concern. That's why the Home Secretary has demanded and ordered this urgent review, because this is not what we want to see. This is not acceptable."

The Conservative Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said on X: "Labour has lost control of our borders.

"A radically different approach is needed.

"We need to leave the ECHR so anyone entering Britain illegally can be rapidly deported. No hotels. No benefits. No lengthy court process. No asylum claim. Just rapid removal. Then the crossings will soon stop."

The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson, Max Wilkinson MP, said closer cooperation with the EU was key to tacking small boat crossings.

"Until the government adopts Liberal Democrat proposals to tackle the root cause by entering the EU's landmark Migration and Asylum Pact, these the smugglers will continue to find a way through, lives will be put at risk and taxpayers' money will be wasted," he said.