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Andy Burnham insists ‘the plan is working’ on stopping small boats – despite nearly 900 migrants arriving via the Channel in his first week as PM
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, in his first week as Prime Minister, defended his government's approach to tackling Channel crossings, saying "the plan is working" even as nearly 900 migrants arrived by small boat during that period. The comments highlight the political pressure facing the new administration to demonstrate control over irregular migration, an issue that has remained a persistent challenge for successive UK governments.
Burnham's insistence that progress is being made contrasts with the scale of arrivals recorded in his opening days in office, underscoring the gap between government messaging and the ongoing reality of crossings. The figures add to scrutiny of how the new leadership intends to distinguish its strategy from that of its predecessors.
In short
- Burnham says small boats plan is working despite nearly 900 arrivals.
- Crossings continued at pace during his first week as PM.
- Highlights pressure on new government over migration control.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The government's assertion that 'the plan is working' whilst nearly 900 migrants arrived in its first week rings hollow and represents either overconfidence or misleading spin. On a matter of such political importance, the public deserves honesty about current realities; large-scale arrivals continuing unabated suggest that existing systems remain ineffective, and claiming success whilst the problem persists undermines credibility.
The case against
Judging any policy's effectiveness after merely seven days is inherently unreasonable. Meaningful migration control requires implementation time, coordination across multiple agencies, and legal processes to operate through their proper channels. The government may be working on structural long-term solutions that won't immediately reduce numbers; focusing fixedly on one week's data represents a gotcha-seeking approach rather than fair evaluation of policy in its infancy.
Explained simply
Small boat crossings across the English Channel have been a long-standing challenge for successive UK governments. Thousands of migrants attempt these journeys each year, seeking to reach Britain outside formal immigration channels, and efforts to stop them have remained largely unsuccessful.
Andy Burnham has recently become Prime Minister, having previously served as Mayor of Greater Manchester. Managing migration has been a consistently difficult issue for UK administrations, and new governments typically face public pressure to show they can control irregular border crossings.
The underlying tension in this story reflects a broader challenge facing the government. Despite various policy attempts over several years, small boat arrivals have continued at significant scale, raising questions about what strategies might actually prove more effective than previous approaches.