Nightmare for Andy Burnham as ‘second migrant mega boat heads for the UK’

A second migrant mega boat has reportedly been spotted attempting to cross the English Channel this month, just weeks after another packed boat arrived in the UK carrying a record-breaking 128 asylum seekers in one go. Super-size crossings appear to be favoured by people smugglers attempting to dodge increased French security on the beaches of northern France.

So far this year, more than 11,800 migrants have made the perilous crossing via small boats, compared to a record 19,000 for the same period in 2025.

GB News reports the first migrants were escorted into Dover Harbour this morning by a Border Force vessel. More than 100 people were understood to be on board the dinghy.

Rob Bates, from the Centre for Migration Control, told the broadcaster: “Andy Burnham has entered Downing Street with no plan to crack down on illegal migration.

“This is a man who previously called for Channel migrants to be given the right to work, and suggested they have access to social housing – a huge pull factor that will incentivise even more young males to make the crossing.

“The new PM is a soft touch on the single most important issue facing the country, and it is almost inevitable that the crisis is going to worsen on his watch.”

As of year-end 2025, 46,497 illegal entries into the UK were detected, and 89% came via the Channel from boats launched off the shores of our European neighbours, mostly France, but numbers are down for the first half of this year.

In April, Labour agreed a deal to pay France £662 million, around 767 euros, in a three-year funding package from 2026 to 2029, supposed to help “strengthen existing controls” in northern France and “fund new tactics” to stop the boats. A new French riot police unit, the Compagnie républicaine de sécurité (CRS), made up of around 50 specially trained officers, has been deployed to stop asylum seekers, who have been known to become violent, from attempting a crossing.

Drones and helicopters are now being used to monitor the beaches and an additional 30 maritime officers and a new vessel has been launched to tackle the ‘taxi boats’ used by smugglers to get migrants to the larger vessels for the crossing. A Home Office spokeswoman told the Daily Express there was now a “40% increase in law enforcement, intelligence and military officers to track down and stop illegal migrants boarding boats”.