Andy Burnham blames Brexit for migrant crossings as Britain sees record day for arrivals this year

You are about to be charged £0.00* *Your gift has been applied Thank you for subscribing! Andy Burnham blames Brexit for migrant crossings as Britain sees record day for arrivals this year The Prime Minister accused Britain's departure from the Brussels bloc of hampering talks with member states The fearless champion of Britain, its voices and its values. Join the fight for free speech and fearless journalism. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Community Rules. Don't Miss Most Read Andy Burnham has blamed Brexit for damaging the Government's ability to stop illegal migrants crossing the Channel. The Prime Minister lamented the "loss of collaboration with neighbours" ever since the UK left the European Union at the start of 2020. Wednesday witnessed the largest influx of small boat migrants when 781 reached British shores - the worst day for crossings since Mr Burnham entered No10. A total of 781 migrants arrived in the UK after making the perilous journey from northern France. Now, the cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2026 stands at 18,565, Home Office provisional figures show. Grilled on why Shabana Mahmood's department continues to be embattled with the ongoing crisis, Mr Burnham attempted to excuse his team's record. "I do point to the loss of collaboration with neighbours that came with Brexit," he told BBC South East. "That hasn’t helped. "We had a more cooperative system, if you like, in the past, so we are not able to have the same levels of collaboration that we used to have, but I don’t put that forward as a reason why we won’t keep working until we get the crossings right down." The Prime Minister accused Britain's departure from the Brussels bloc of hampering talks with member states |PA "That is our goal, that we don’t want to see any crossings at all." But Mr Burnham refused to set a date for the ambitious pledge - or even a "promise that we will do it". He added: "But what I will say to you is I will not stop nor will the Home Secretary until we bear down every element of this criminal, illegal activity and that we do so in a way that gets the numbers right now." Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, was up in arms over Mr Burnham shifting the blame onto the Tories' Brexit deal. BRITAIN'S BORDERS CRISIS - READ THE LATEST: "This is total nonsense," he fumed. "Andy Burnham is gaslighting us all to hide his own failures, with over 1,000 illegal immigrants coming in this week alone." He continued: "Under the previous Dublin arrangements in the EU, we only ever sent a handful of people back to Europe, and in fact received more than we sent. "While in Dublin, removals only amounted to a tiny fraction of small boat arrivals. "Other European countries are still in the Dublin scheme, and it hasn’t helped Germany, France or even Ireland with their illegal migration problems. Andy Burnham is not telling the truth." The Labour leader also said he recognised that smuggling gangs were switching up their criminal tactics following another dinghy launching from Normandy - and declared his Government would be "relentless in chasing them down". The inflatable vessels are increasingly setting off further east and west along the French coast to duck border control officers patrolling beaches up north. He said: "They are changing their tactics but we will be relentless in chasing them down. "The measures that we’ve taken in relation to small boats are working. "They are changing what they’re doing but we then have to change what we’re doing to chasing them."