By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-10-02 10:26:03 | Updated at 2026-10-02 10:53:58
31 minutes ago
Andy Burnham has been left facing a migration revolt after appearing to undermine Shabana Mahmood by blaming Brexit for the small boats crisis.
The Prime Minister, who is now considering pushing for the UK to rejoin the EU, used his first conference speech as Labour leader to claim Brexit had reduced Britain’s ability to control its own borders.
Mr Burnham also blamed Britain’s departure from the EU for a surge in small boat arrivals, citing the loss of cross-Channel collaboration as a major factor.
However, the Prime Minister’s position appeared to directly contradict Ms Mahmood’s from earlier this year.
Speaking at the Home Affairs Select Committee, the Home Secretary rejected the suggestion Brexit was to blame.
Ms Mahmood, who supported Remain in the 2016 referendum, said: “I’m sure there’s lots of other debates to be had about the rights and wrongs of Brexit.
“But is Brexit responsible for the boats? I don’t think that’s true.”
Labour MPs have been divided on whether Brexit is to blame for the migrant crisis after Sir Keir Starmer labelled dinghies crossing the Channel as “Farage boats”.
Graham Stringer, Labour’s lone Brexit-backing MP, told GB News: “Shabana is right in saying it’s not about Brexit.
“It is entirely about the legal framework that we operate in under the European Convention on Human Rights.”
A second Labour MP admitted: “Brexit gave us the power to control our own borders and immigration policy, but both main parties have chosen not to do it.”
Mr Burnham’s comments about cross-Channel collaboration came just months after Ms Mahmood tore into the EU’s Dublin Convention.
The Home Secretary rejected the suggestion Brexit was to blame for the small boats surge
“The idea that this has happened because we have lost the access to Dublin and the returns agreement with the EU - I think that is too much of a stretch,” the Birmingham Ladywood MP said at the time.
Ms Mahmood went on to dispute whether the Dublin Convention had worked as intended.
Home Office data from 2016 and 2017 showed that 676 asylum seekers were transferred from Britain under the scheme, while 1,019 illegal migrants were transferred to the UK over the same period.
The problem worsened in 2018 after 209 out of 5,500 requests for asylum seekers to be returned were completed, while the UK accepted 1,215 migrants.
Almost 7,000 small boat migrants have crossed the Channel under Andy Burnham
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The figure comes in stark contrast to the 131 who were transferred into the UK in 2015, when 510 asylum seekers had been transferred out.
Migration Watch chairman Alp Mehmet told GB News: “When we were in the EU and signed up to the Dublin Treaty, it took months to arrange removals in either direction, and France accepted very few.
“The process was time-consuming and hellishly costly, even for the small numbers involved.
“The Prime Minister is engaging in gaslighting, perhaps in an effort to justify his call to rejoin the EU.
“On this issue, however, he is wrong, and his Home Secretary is right.”
Small boat migrants continue to cross the Channel
GB NEWS
Brendan Chilton, the former general secretary of pro-Brexit group Labour Leave, also warned the small boats crisis was the result of organised crime and failures to control Britain’s borders.
He told GB News: “The small boat crossings are as a result of organised criminal gangs and 14 years of Tory failure to control our borders.
“Outside the European Union, the Labour government has implemented policies that have seen the numbers of small boats reduce dramatically.
“There is still more work to do and the Home Secretary's tough stance is exactly the approach we need."
The Brexit veteran, who is a serving Labour councillor, added: “Rejoining the EU, which would mean accepting freedom of movement, would make controlling our borders impossible.
“That is why we need a Labour Government, securing our borders, outside the EU, but working closely with the bloc as our closest neighbours.”
French police have been accused of doing very little to stop migrants crossing the Channel
REUTERS
However, a Labour minister dismissed any suggestion that the Prime Minister was at odds with his Home Secretary.
“The Conservative Party’s response to Brexit saw net migration numbers spiral out of control,” they said.
“There is no difference between Shabana and Andy on this issue.”
However, Ms Mahmood is understood to be leaning towards wanting the UK to remain outside the EU over fears rejoining would do little to help tackle the migrant crisis.
The Cabinet is becoming increasingly split on Britain’s future relationship with Europe following Mr Burnham’s U-turn.
Sir Keir Starmer also blamed Brexit for the crisis in the Channel, labelling the dinghies 'Farage boats'
Speaking to GB News at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, the Prime Minister said: “We look at all options.
“The speech was about deciding the long-term direction for this country. Where do we want to be in 10 years' time?
Deputy Prime Minister Louise Haigh, who left Sir Keir’s Cabinet amid revelations about her historic fraud conviction, refused to rule out rejoining the EU.
She told The People’s Channel: "Well, the Prime Minister is going to set that out later in the year around the UK-EU Summit.”
Meanwhile, Northampton South MP Mike Reeder admitted he “would love to see us have that conversation”.
The Prime Minister is now opening the door to rejoining the EU
PA
GB News understands a growing number of Labour MPs are becoming increasingly concerned about the realities of rejoining the EU, including many who voted to Remain in 2016.
Mr Burnham’s push for closer cross-Channel cooperation was also dealt a blow this week when Labour’s “one-in, one-out” with France deal collapsed.
Figures covering the first 11 months of the scheme showed 1,087 migrants were returned to France, while 1,117 were transferred to the UK and 27,920 migrants crossed the Channel via small boat.
The scheme cost taxpayers around £84 million, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood saying each return cost an average of around £56,000.
GB News also revealed earlier this year that UK taxpayers had given France £1.4billion to help tackle the Channel migrant crisis.
The figures are likely to raise fresh questions over the effectiveness of the UK’s cooperation with France in tackling small boat crossings.
However, a former Home Office insider claimed EU member states have done little to help the UK curb Channel crossings both before and after Brexit.
A backlash is expected if Andy Burnham continues to reignite the Brexit debate
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“The boats started before we left the EU in 2020, and they’ve continued since,” they told GB News.
“Burnham wants closer cooperation with the EU but they’re the problem because they always refuse to pull their finger out. I fear this is only going to get worse.”
The total number of small boat migrants who have crossed the Channel since Labour came to power in 2024 now stands at 84,375.
The figure includes 6,666 who arrived on British shores since Mr Burnham succeeded Sir Keir.
Despite the ever-increasing number of small boat crossings, Labour has defended its handling of the migrant crisis.
In his keynote conference speech in Liverpool, Mr Burnham said: “Shabana has done a great job in beginning to restore our grip over the system.
“People arriving on small boats down 40 per cent on the last year, 50 per cent from the early 2020s.”
Ms Mahmood added: “We have stopped over 48,000 attempted crossings and small boat arrivals are down significantly with this summer recording the lowest number since 2021.”
