Should Andy Burnham be ‘relentless’ on small boat crossings? Experts react

Following a surge in irregular migration through Spain's Ceuta enclave, Britain's small boat debate has flared up again, sharpened by a single-day record of seven hundred fifty-two Channel crossings on July the twenty-ninth that also saw four deaths. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to be 'relentless' on the issue, but The Conversation UK's panel of migration experts point out crossings are actually down sharply this year — around fourteen thousand people between January and July, forty-three percent fewer than the same period in twenty twenty-five — thanks to a mix of policy shifts, tighter enforcement, and a low-volume returns deal with France. Still, the experts caution that 'taking back control' rhetoric obscures how little any government can fully dictate migration, and that tougher enforcement mostly pushes people toward more dangerous crossings. As the panel notes, Burnham's own record includes a protectionist 2015 Labour leadership bid, and his reappointment of Shabana Mahmood as home secretary signals continuity with the party's tougher-on-borders wing, even as he gestures toward building safer legal routes as an alternative.

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