Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood Makes Bold Claim About Labour’s Small Boat Crackdown as New Figures Reveal Something Is Changing

The Home Secretary says the Labour Government’s efforts to reduce small boat crossings are starting to show results, as new figures reveal fewer boats have crossed the English Channel this summer.

Between June and August this year, 102 small boats carrying migrants arrived in Britain. This was the lowest number of boats recorded during those three summer months since 2019, when 57 boats made the journey.

However, although fewer boats are being used, reports suggest that people-smuggling gangs are putting more people into each vessel. This means some of the boats making the dangerous journey across the Channel are becoming more crowded.

Figures covering August 28, 2025 to August 27, 2026 show that each boat arriving in the UK carried an average of 68 people. This is more than double the average recorded in 2021.

Official figures also show that 2,313 people crossed the Channel during August, although this figure did not include Bank Holiday Monday because the official numbers for that day had not yet been published.

Across June, July and August, a total of 7,371 people crossed the Channel. This was the lowest summer total since 2020, when 3,307 people made the journey during the same three-month period.

GB News also reported that Prime Minister Andy Burnham has seen an average of around 130 arrivals per day during his first 22 days in office after succeeding Sir Keir Starmer on July 20.

At the same time, the number of people waiting for their first decision on an asylum claim has fallen significantly. At the end of June 2026, the number was 56 per cent lower than it had been one year earlier. It was also reported to be at its lowest level since March 2019.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the Government is determined to bring more control to Britain’s borders. She said the lower number of small boat crossings during June, July and August shows that the Government’s work is beginning to produce results.

However, she admitted that more still needs to be done. She said the Government would continue going after criminal gangs involved in people smuggling and would also try to remove the reasons that encourage people to use dangerous and illegal routes to reach Britain.

The Home Office also pointed to cooperation between Britain and France. According to the Government, French police have increased their efforts to stop boats leaving beaches in northern France.

The Government says joint UK-France action has stopped more than 48,000 attempted crossings since the 2024 election.

The National Crime Agency and international partners have also seized more than 1,100 boats and engines. The aim is to make it more difficult for smuggling gangs to obtain the equipment they need to organise Channel crossings.

The Government is also pushing ahead with new immigration and asylum laws as ministers look for more ways to strengthen immigration enforcement.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street, with the problem of small boat crossings expected to be one of the issues discussed.

There has also been a large fall in the number of asylum seekers staying in hotels.

At the end of June 2026, 16,021 asylum seekers were temporarily living in UK hotels. That was around half the 32,041 recorded in June 2025 and the lowest figure since this data began being published in 2022.

However, the number of asylum seekers living in other accommodation increased. Around 69,038 people were staying in privately managed houses, flats, rooms and other dispersal accommodation in June 2026, compared with 66,234 a year earlier.

Despite this increase, the big fall in hotel use meant the overall number of asylum seekers receiving some form of support dropped by 12 per cent, from 106,075 to 93,293.

Government spending on the asylum system has also fallen. Home Office spending was £4.36 billion in 2025/26, compared with £4.76 billion the previous year, representing a fall of about eight per cent.

The figure includes accommodation, financial support, staff and other migration and border-related costs. However, it does not include the cost of intercepting migrants travelling across the Channel in small boats.

Mahmood said the latest figures show that the Government is making progress in its efforts to bring greater control to the border and make changes to the immigration and asylum system.