GB News Counts More Than 10,000 Channel Migrant Arrivals Since Andy Burnham Became Prime Minister, About 97.5 a Day
Breitbart London reports on a GB News tally that puts Burnham's daily average above his Conservative predecessors and just under Keir Starmer's. The Home Office says crossings are down on last year, and a Reform UK pledge is the political answer.
Small-boat crossings in the English Channel are back in British politics, with a new count from GB News carried by Breitbart London.
The count. GB News calculates that 10,139 migrants have reached the UK across the Channel since Andy Burnham became prime minister in July, an average of 97.5 a day. Breitbart says that is higher than under Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, and slightly below Keir Starmer's 103.6 a day, based on at least 77,183 arrivals before Burnham replaced him. Breitbart's phrasing, including that Burnham "allowed in" the migrants and took power in a "palace coup," is its own.
The government's side. Labour points out that crossings are down year on year: 22,608 so far this year against 36,954 at this point last year, according to an ITV figure Breitbart cites. A Home Office spokesman said "we have made progress tackling the small boats," that crossings are "down significantly" and that summer arrivals were the lowest since 2020. He said joint work with international partners has stopped more than 50,000 crossing attempts and seized 1,100 boats and engines since the election, and that the government is adding officers in France.
The opposition. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said more than 1,200 people have arrived since Thursday, which he put at about 396 million pounds in lifetime costs, using an economists' estimate of 330,000 pounds per migrant. Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf repeated Reform's pledge to deport everyone who arrived illegally and to deploy the Royal Navy in the Channel "so that not one more makes it to our shores."
What to keep in mind. The 97.5 figure is GB News's calculation, and the lifetime cost is Farage's estimate. Breitbart also says Labour has let in 87,259 people since 2024 against 127,896 in the preceding six years of Conservative government, without showing how the periods were matched. We did not check the Home Office data.