Burnham blames Brexit for small boats crisis - but rules out early general election

Prime minister Andy Burnham has lashed out at Brexit claiming that leaving the European Union has prevented the government stopping migrants from crossing the Channel in inflatable dinghies.

The attack came in a week where Mr Burnham refused to rule out putting a pledge to rejoin the EU in Labour’s next election manifesto when he was challenged on the issue at the United Nations by The Independent.

But in a series of broadcast interviews given ahead of Labour’s conference starting on Sunday, Mr Burnham has ruled out an early election before 2029 saying he can “knock dead” the prospect.

According to Mr Burnham, the UK has experienced a "loss of collaboration with neighbours" since completing Brexit.

The comments follow a difficult week for the Home Office, during which more than 700 individuals reached the UK on Wednesday alone, alongside two separate vessels reaching British shores undetected in the space of two days.

However, overall crossing figures for this year (18,609) stand 42 per cent lower than at this time last year (32,188) and 26% below the total at this stage in 2024 (25,165).

In April, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood agreed a three-year deal worth £662 million with France in Dunkirk.

Asked by BBC South East why crossings are still happening, Mr Burnham said: "I do point to the loss of collaboration with neighbours that came with Brexit. That hasn’t helped.

"We had a more cooperative system, if you like, in the past, so we are not able to have the same levels of collaboration that we used to have, but I don’t put that forward as a reason why we won’t keep working until we get the crossings right down.

"That is our goal, that we don’t want to see any crossings at all. "

He added: "I’m not going to give you a date by which we can do that, or a promise that we will do it, as other governments have done in terms of a particular deadline.

"But what I will say to you is I will not stop nor will the Home Secretary until we bear down every element of this criminal, illegal activity and that we do so in a way that gets the numbers right now."

The prime minister highlighted that human-smuggling gangs are altering their tactics following another departure from Normandy.

A craft carrying 51 migrants spent over 30 hours at sea this week after setting off near the village of Vierville-sur-Mer, west of Bayeux.

Launches rarely occur so far west in France due to the extra distance required to cross the Channel.

"They are changing their tactics but we will be relentless in chasing them down," he told BBC South East. “The measures that we’ve taken in relation to small boats are working. They are changing what they’re doing but we then have to change what we’re doing to chasing them."

On another matter, Mr Burnham asserted that attending a protest dressed in black with a face covering is "not the British way".

Police arrested six people after anti-migrant demonstrators assembled at a marina in Gosport, Hampshire, on Tuesday night.

A number of protesters wore dark clothing and face coverings, and chanted "send them back".

Earlier this month, crowds of masked men blocked road access to the port in Dover.

"I recognise the concern that many people in the public have around immigration. But this is something different, Mr Burnham told ITV Meridian.

"You don’t take it out on the police. You don’t attack the police. You don’t intimidate the rest of the public. If, you know, you are just expressing a concern. This is a different agenda. And it needs to be seen as such, and dealt with as such. But at the same time, addressing the genuine concern of people.

"I think those who bring this fear to the streets are not, in any way representing the vast majority of people."

Asked if he condemned protesters wearing black and covering their faces, he said: "I do, because it’s designed to intimidate, and create a feeling on British streets of the kind that we don’t accept.

"Where perhaps in other countries this has been done. But not here. That’s not the British way, as far as I’m concerned.

"People should be able to go about their lives, live in their communities without having a feeling of fear about people coming in, to cause unrest and cause provocation."