Small boats continue to make their way to Britain.
English Channel (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham’s migrant nightmare has intensified after 781 people crossed the Channel in 10 boats on Wednesday.
The record number of small boat arrivals this year comes in the same week Border Force missed two dinghies.
It will heap pressure on ministers as they desperately try to convince people the borders are secure.
Some 18,565 people have crossed the Channel this year, down 42% on the equivalent point last year.
But Labour’s Lucy Powell this morning sensationally claimed that Border Force cannot intercept every single migrant crossing.
The Home Secretary launched an “urgent review” as officials confirmed at least 21 asylum seekers arrived in Samphire Hoe on Tuesday.
Others are feared to be on the run, with the Home Office carrying out a “thorough investigation”.
And at least five migrants were detected at The Warren, a rocky stretch of coast near Folkestone, on Monday. The crossings were the first unauthorised landings in a year
Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf said: “This is an abject surrender of our borders by Lucy Powell and Labour. Every migrant boat can and should be intercepted, but this government is too gutless to deploy the Royal Navy and protect the British public from this invasion of undocumented fighting-age men.
“Reform’s Operation Fortress will intercept every illegal dinghy and put an end to the boat crossings in our first 100 days of government. Anything less will mean hundreds of thousands more invaders will use the Channel to break into Britain.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who has ordered an urgent review by the Border Security Command, said the failure to intercept the two boats was “not acceptable”.
Ms Powell echoed that language on Thursday but suggested not all crossings could be prevented.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if the situation was embarrassing for the Government, she responded: “(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.
“But the overall picture is an improving picture. It is hard, difficult work that requires constant, constant effort by our border forces, our security services, police, our partnerships with France and other countries.
“This is a mammoth and huge task, which is now starting to reap some dividends. But of course, you know where there are still issues arising, we must absolutely tackle them.”
Pressed on Good Morning Britain whether she stood by her statement, Ms Powell said: “I think you’re just taking that completely out of context.
“We are clamping down on small boat crossings every single day… we are sucking the oxygen out of it, we are taking steps, and there are many, many steps.
“It’s not an easy thing to do to just turn on a switch, turn off a switch overnight. We have to constantly evolve.”
A Government spokesperson said: “Our progress this year in tackling small boats is indisputable – with crossings down by 42% and the lowest recorded over the summer months since 2020.
“But this week’s events show that while the peaks we are seeing are far below those of previous years, we need to push further and harder in order to eradicate this vile trade.”