Andy Burnham accused of ‘inciting disorder’ over migrant crisis (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham has been accused of inciting disorder across the country because of the way his Government is handling the migration crisis.
It comes after his administration suffered its worst day on record, with 781 illegal migrants breaking into the country in unlawful Channel crossings in a single day.
The record-breaking influx also saw two boats arrive on UK shores undetected, sparking fury in Westminster and triggering threats of protests at migrant sites.
Horrendous footage and pictures, seen in Thursday’s Daily Express, also show what appears to be a man abandoning a child in the water so he can climb aboard a crowded dinghy.
Get the latest politics news – straight from our team in Westminster and more
Invalid email
You agree you are 18 or over. We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. You can unsubscribe at any time. More Info.
Reform UK’s Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf warned that numbers were “accelerating” despite Home Office claims that the overall total had reduced.
He told Good Morning Britain that the UK has had “north of 210,000 people turn up on our beaches illegally in the past eight years” and warned “people’s lives are being turned upside down”.
Those comments were in relation to the village of Piddington, which recently hosted a symbolic referendum to leave the UK in protest against the housing of migrants at a nearby base.
Mr Yusuf said residents “are terrified that they are about to be outnumbered 10 to 1 by illegal migrant men”.
Home Office data shows a decline in the number of crossings this year, but critics say the overall figure remains far too high, with an insufficient number of people being sent back to their countries of origin.
Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf accuses Andy Burnham of inciting disorder (Image: Getty)
In a scathing attack on the Prime Minister, Mr Yusuf said: “Andy Burnham is inciting disorder in Britain by wielding the state’s monopoly on violence to impose unvetted men from countries like Afghanistan, Syria and Eritrea into local communities.”
He added: “This is unprecedented. I am worried the country is heading to a dark place.”
His remarks refer to footage showing coaches used to transfer migrants from the coast to immigration centres being accompanied by a police escort.
There have been mounting protests by masked men near locations used to hold migrants, though police support for security reasons is not uncommon.
Andy Burnham Accused of “Inciting Disorder” as 781 Migrants Cross the Channel in a Single Day
The UK’s debate over immigration erupted into another political confrontation in September 2026 after 781 people crossed the English Channel in small boats in a single day. The arrivals set a new daily record for 2026 and prompted renewed criticism of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s approach to border security.
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson, accused Burnham’s government of fuelling tensions in coastal communities through its handling of migrant arrivals. He argued that police escorts and the transfer of asylum seekers to processing facilities had deepened residents’ frustration rather than reassuring them that the border was under control.
The accusation added another layer to an already heated national debate. Supporters of tougher immigration controls said the record arrivals demonstrated the need for more decisive action, while the government pointed to the wider decline in crossings compared with the previous year.
At the centre of the dispute was a difficult question: how can Britain strengthen border enforcement while preventing local tensions from escalating into disorder?
A Record Day in the Channel
Home Office figures reported on 24 September showed that 781 people had arrived in the UK in ten small boats on the previous day. It was the highest single-day total recorded so far in 2026, surpassing the previous annual record of 752 arrivals on 29 July.
The latest figures brought the provisional number of small-boat arrivals for the year to 18,565. Although the daily total attracted considerable attention, the broader figures provided a more complicated picture. Arrivals by that point in 2026 were approximately 42 per cent lower than during the same period in 2025, when 32,188 people had crossed the Channel.
That contrast became central to the political argument. Critics maintained that even a lower annual total could not justify a day in which nearly 800 people arrived by an irregular route. They argued that the government should be judged by whether it could prevent unauthorised crossings, not simply by whether the numbers had fallen from an exceptionally high previous year.
Ministers, meanwhile, maintained that progress had been made but acknowledged that further action was necessary. The government’s position was that a reduction in overall arrivals did not mean the challenge had been resolved.
The figures also came after two boats had reportedly reached the Kent coast without being intercepted, raising further questions about the ability of authorities to monitor every attempted crossing.
Reform UK Turns Up the Pressure
Reform UK seized on the arrivals to renew its criticism of Burnham’s immigration strategy. Yusuf argued that the government’s approach was contributing to anger in towns where people were concerned about migrant accommodation, policing and the impact on local services.
He accused the prime minister of “inciting disorder”, a serious political charge that reflected Reform’s argument that government policy was helping to create the conditions for confrontation.
The accusation, however, remains a political claim rather than an established finding that Burnham deliberately encouraged violence or unlawful behaviour. Disagreement over government policy, the use of police escorts and the handling of demonstrations does not by itself prove that a politician intended to provoke disorder.
Reform has advocated a substantially tougher approach to irregular migration, including proposals to use the Royal Navy to prevent boats from reaching British shores and to detain and deport people who do not have a legal right to remain in the country.
Such proposals have helped the party present itself as a force demanding a more restrictive border policy. They also raise practical and legal questions about cooperation with France, the treatment of people rescued at sea, individual asylum claims and the circumstances in which people can lawfully be returned.
The political challenge for Burnham is therefore twofold: to show that the government can reduce crossings further and to explain how its policies will work in practice.
Coastal Communities Caught in the Middle
The political dispute has unfolded against a backdrop of protests in towns along England’s south coast, where some residents have opposed the transfer of people arriving by boat to immigration processing facilities.
In Portsmouth, around 140 protesters gathered during a confrontation over the transfer of migrants to a processing centre in Kent. According to LBC, police investigated disorder during the incident after officers were injured and police, Coastguard and Border Force vehicles were damaged. The government condemned intimidating behaviour while defending the right to peaceful protest. <Cite refs={[“turn854800view2”]}/>
For residents who oppose the current system, the presence of police escorts can become a symbol of their frustration. They question why public resources are required to transport people who have entered the country through irregular routes and argue that local communities deserve a greater say in decisions affecting them.
Others emphasise that police escorts can be a practical security measure designed to prevent confrontations, protect passengers and staff, and maintain public order. The use of an escort does not, on its own, establish that the government is encouraging migration or rewarding unlawful conduct.
This distinction matters because the debate involves two separate issues: whether the immigration system is effective and whether protests against it are being conducted lawfully. Authorities can be criticised over border enforcement while demonstrators remain responsible for their own actions.
The government must also explain how accommodation decisions are made, what consultation is possible and which public services may be affected. Where residents feel excluded from decisions, frustration can grow even when the underlying operational arrangements are lawful.
Burnham Promises a Tougher Response
Burnham has insisted that the government wants to stop small-boat crossings altogether and increase pressure on the criminal networks that organise them.
In a BBC interview reported on 25 September, he said there would be no complacency and that the government would continue pursuing the criminal activity behind the crossings. He also acknowledged that the recent landings had raised urgent questions for the authorities. <Cite refs={[“turn482173search4”]}/>
The government faces a difficult test in turning those assurances into results. Smuggling networks can change launch locations, boat sizes and tactics, making it harder for authorities to intercept every vessel. Cooperation with French authorities, intelligence gathering, surveillance and prosecutions are all part of the wider enforcement challenge.
The two boats that reached the Kent coast without being intercepted intensified scrutiny of those arrangements. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood ordered an urgent review, describing the failures as unacceptable. Ministers nevertheless argued that the overall annual trend was improving. <Cite refs={[“turn854800view0”]}/>
For Burnham, the danger is that individual incidents may dominate the public debate even when longer-term figures move in a different direction. A government can point to a fall in annual arrivals, but a record day or an uncontrolled landing can still raise legitimate questions about operational weaknesses.
Conversely, one exceptionally busy day does not by itself demonstrate that every aspect of border policy has failed. A fair assessment requires both daily figures and longer-term trends, together with evidence about interceptions, returns, asylum decisions and prosecutions of smugglers.
What Would a Different Policy Look Like?
Reform UK argues that a much tougher approach is required. Yusuf has advocated using the Royal Navy to prevent boats from reaching British shores and returning people to France, alongside detention and deportation measures for those without a legal right to remain.
Implementing such proposals would involve significant practical and legal questions. Any maritime operation would need to account for safety at sea, the circumstances of people intercepted, international obligations and the arrangements agreed with France. Returns also depend on legal authority and workable cooperation with receiving countries.
The asylum system presents a further challenge. Not everyone arriving irregularly will necessarily have the same legal circumstances or the same outcome to an asylum claim. Authorities must distinguish between people who qualify for protection, those whose applications are refused and individuals who may be removable under the law.
Supporters of stricter enforcement argue that the system will lack credibility if decisions take too long or people with no right to remain cannot be returned. Humanitarian advocates counter that faster processing must not come at the expense of fair individual assessments or protection for people who face persecution.
These competing concerns mean that slogans alone cannot resolve the problem. A credible policy needs clear objectives, transparent figures and evidence that enforcement measures are reducing dangerous journeys without creating additional legal or humanitarian problems.
A Political Battle With National Consequences
The accusation that Burnham is “inciting disorder” reflects the increasingly confrontational language surrounding immigration. Reform UK says the government’s actions are fuelling anger; ministers have condemned intimidation and argued that public protest must remain peaceful.
Neither claim should be accepted as a substitute for evidence. Establishing that a politician deliberately encouraged disorder would require more than showing that people were angry about government policy. Equally, officials cannot dismiss public concerns simply because some protests have involved unlawful behaviour.
The debate also has consequences for the people who cross the Channel. Dangerous journeys expose passengers to the risk of drowning, while the activities of smuggling gangs can put lives at risk. Preventing these crossings therefore has a public-safety dimension as well as a political one.
The latest figures offer both sides material for their arguments: 781 arrivals on one day represented the highest daily total of 2026 at that point, while the year-to-date total remained substantially below the comparable figure for 2025. <Cite refs={[“turn482173search3”]}/>
Ultimately, the government will be judged on whether it can reduce irregular crossings, strengthen the handling of asylum claims, disrupt criminal networks and explain its decisions to the public. Reform UK will continue to press for more restrictive measures, while other political voices will argue for different combinations of enforcement, international cooperation and humanitarian protection.
The immediate controversy may fade, but the underlying questions will remain. Britain needs a border system that is effective, lawful and accountable—and a political debate in which allegations of incitement, claims of progress and demands for tougher enforcement are tested against evidence rather than rhetoric.