Labour MP torn apart on GB News as furious migrant row explodes ‘Wake up!’
A heated debate over Britain’s small-boat migration crisis erupted on GB News as Labour MP Tan Dhesi faced questions from presenter Nana Akua about the government’s handling of Channel crossings, the cost to taxpayers and whether Labour is doing enough to tackle illegal migration.
The exchange reflected one of the most contentious arguments in British politics: whether the government should be judged primarily by the recent reduction in small-boat arrivals or by the fact that thousands of people continue to cross the Channel.
Dhesi defended the government’s approach by pointing to the situation inherited from the previous Conservative administration. He argued that the rise in small-boat arrivals had accelerated during the Conservative years and that Labour had been working to reduce the numbers since taking office.
Akua, however, pressed him on the continuing costs and questioned whether the measures being pursued were sufficiently effective.
The confrontation quickly became a wider debate about responsibility, enforcement and what should happen to people who arrive in Britain after crossing the Channel.
Dhesi points to the previous government
During the GB News discussion, Dhesi argued that the Labour government had inherited a serious problem.
He referred to what he called the “Boris wave”, pointing to the significant growth in small-boat arrivals during the Conservative period.
His argument was that the current government should not be assessed without considering the starting point it inherited.
That is an important part of Labour’s political case.
Official Home Office statistics show that small-boat arrivals reached a peak of 45,774 in 2022. The figure subsequently fell in 2023 and 2024 before rising again in 2025. In the year ending June 2026, 33,374 people were detected arriving by small boat, 23% fewer than the 43,309 recorded in the previous year.
Those figures give Labour evidence for its argument that crossings have fallen.
But they also demonstrate why the issue remains politically sensitive.
More than 33,000 arrivals in a 12-month period remains a substantial number, and the government has not eliminated the Channel route.
The latest figures complicate the debate
The most recent operational figures illustrate the volatility of the situation.
Home Office data updated on September 25 showed that 781 people arrived in 10 boats on September 23 alone. A further 44 people arrived the following day. The same dataset recorded 150 arrivals on September 21 and 154 on September 22.
The figures are provisional and can change, but they demonstrate how quickly daily numbers can rise.
That creates a difficult communications problem for ministers.
A government can point to a substantial annual reduction while opponents can focus on a single day in which hundreds of people arrive.
Both pieces of information describe the same situation from different perspectives.
For Labour, the challenge is explaining why a reduction should be regarded as evidence of progress while acknowledging that the underlying problem remains unresolved.
For its critics, the question is whether reductions are sufficient if large-scale crossings continue.
Why the argument over responsibility matters
Immigration policy is unusual because responsibility extends across several governments.
The Conservatives introduced legislation intended to discourage irregular arrivals and attempted to establish a Rwanda removal scheme.
The Labour government subsequently cancelled the Rwanda policy and changed the asylum system, while increasing cooperation with France and pursuing its own measures against people-smuggling networks.
The Migration Observatory at Oxford has noted that small-boat arrivals have declined significantly during 2026, but has also cautioned that it is difficult to identify exactly why.
Its analysis suggests that UK government policies may have contributed, but other factors are also important, including a substantial decline in irregular arrivals into the European Union and changes in countries of origin.
That makes political claims about causation difficult.
A fall in crossings does not automatically prove that one particular policy caused the reduction.
Equally, continued crossings do not necessarily prove that every government measure has failed.
The taxpayer question
One of the most politically powerful aspects of the debate concerns the cost of the asylum system.
Accommodation, processing, legal proceedings, border enforcement and removals all require public resources.
Critics argue that taxpayers should not have to carry the cost of a system that they believe is failing to prevent irregular entry.
The government responds that processing asylum claims and providing accommodation while claims are determined are legal and administrative responsibilities.
The debate becomes particularly complicated because a person arriving by small boat may subsequently be found to have a valid claim for protection.
The route of arrival and the eventual outcome of an asylum claim are therefore separate questions.
Government statistics show that 40,605 people were returned from the UK in the year ending June 2026. Of those, 9,669 were enforced returns, while the remainder were voluntary returns or other categories.
Among people who had arrived by small boat, 3,310 were returned during that 12-month period, an increase of 35% compared with the previous year.
Those figures have allowed ministers to argue that removals are increasing.
But the relatively small number of small-boat arrivals returned compared with total arrivals remains a point of criticism for opponents of the government’s approach.
The France agreement
A major element of Labour’s strategy has been cooperation with France.
The UK-France agreement introduced a mechanism allowing certain people arriving in Britain by small boat to be returned to France, with an equivalent number of people eligible to come to Britain through a legal route.
The government has presented the arrangement as part of an attempt to disrupt the business model of smuggling gangs.
But the scale of removals remains limited.
The Home Office recorded 3,310 returns of small-boat arrivals in the year ending June 2026, including returns under the UK-France agreement.
The Migration Observatory has also noted that the proportion of arrivals actually returned under the arrangement remained relatively low during the period it examined.
This is central to the political argument.
If the probability of removal remains low, critics question how powerful the deterrent effect can be.
Ministers, meanwhile, argue that the agreement is one component of a broader strategy rather than a complete solution.
Reform’s challenge to Labour
Reform UK has attempted to push the debate much further.
Nigel Farage and other Reform politicians have argued for more extensive deportations, tougher border controls and significant changes to the UK’s legal framework.
That puts pressure on Labour MPs appearing on television programmes such as GB News.
A presenter or political opponent can ask a simple question: if Reform is demanding tougher action, why isn’t the government doing more?
The Labour response is that immigration policy must operate within practical, diplomatic and legal constraints.
Dhesi’s emphasis on the previous Conservative government’s record forms part of that response.
But it does not entirely resolve the question of what Labour intends to do next.
The numbers per boat are changing
Another important development has received less attention in political arguments.
Although the number of boats has fallen, the number of people travelling on each boat has increased.
The Home Office reported that the average number of people per small boat reached 65 in the year ending June 2026, compared with 56 the previous year and only seven in 2018.
At the same time, the number of boats arriving fell by 33% in the year ending June 2026.
This suggests that people-smuggling networks are adapting.
Instead of necessarily launching more boats, smugglers can attempt to transport larger numbers of people on individual vessels.
That presents a major safety concern because overcrowded boats are vulnerable to capsizing and other accidents.
It also demonstrates why reducing the number of boats does not automatically translate into an equivalent reduction in the number of people arriving.
Why the “wake up” argument resonates
The phrase “wake up” used in political debates over immigration reflects frustration among people who believe the government has not responded strongly enough.
The opposing argument is that immigration is a complex policy area in which dramatic promises can be easier to make than to implement.
Both sides therefore focus on different measurements.
Critics can point to the continuing arrivals, asylum accommodation costs and the number of people awaiting decisions.
The government can point to falling small-boat arrivals, increased returns and expanded cooperation with European authorities.
The challenge for voters is separating these different measurements rather than relying on a single headline figure.
A decline does not mean the problem has disappeared
The Migration Observatory’s September analysis provides an important qualification to the political debate.
It found that around 27,900 people had crossed the Channel by small boat in the year ending September 9, the lowest level since 2021 and around 40% below the recent peak in September 2025. It also recorded a 47% decline in arrivals during the first eight months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.
But the researchers stressed that it is difficult to separate the impact of individual government policies from other factors.
This is particularly important because irregular migration into Europe has also declined.
If fewer people are reaching northern France and Belgium in the first place, fewer may ultimately attempt the Channel crossing.
Changes in countries of origin can also influence the numbers.
The result is that the British government’s policies may be contributing to the decline without necessarily being the sole explanation.
The political battle will continue
The GB News confrontation between Nana Akua and Tan Dhesi therefore represented more than a television argument.
It captured a much wider disagreement about how Britain should respond to irregular migration.
Labour wants to emphasise the reduction in crossings and the enforcement measures being introduced.
Critics want attention focused on the people who continue to arrive, the cost of accommodation and the difficulties surrounding removals.
Reform UK has made the issue central to its political message, increasing pressure on Labour and the Conservatives to demonstrate that their own policies can deliver stronger border control.
The latest figures provide ammunition for competing interpretations.
Small-boat arrivals are lower than they were a year earlier, according to official statistics. At the same time, thousands continue to make the journey, and individual days can still produce exceptionally high numbers.
That is why the argument is unlikely to disappear.
For Labour, the task is to demonstrate that falling numbers represent a durable change rather than a temporary fluctuation.
For opponents, the central question is whether the remaining level of irregular migration is acceptable and whether the government’s approach can reduce it further.
And for the public, the debate ultimately concerns several separate issues: border enforcement, the cost of asylum accommodation, the speed of asylum decisions, returns, international cooperation and the UK’s obligations towards people seeking protection.
The heated exchange on GB News may have produced sharp political rhetoric, but the underlying policy debate is considerably more complicated.
The figures show progress in some areas, persistent difficulties in others, and considerable uncertainty over exactly which factors are driving the latest changes.
That leaves the small-boats issue firmly at the centre of Britain’s immigration debate — and ensures that arguments such as the one between Dhesi and Akua will continue well beyond a single television confrontation.
