Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has warned that small-boat arrivals pose “a massive threat to our national security” after Home Office figures showed 1,739 migrants crossed the Channel this week - roughly 250 a day.
“This is an out of control disaster that poses a massive threat to our national security”, Farage said.
“It’s only getting worse under Open Borders Burnham. Reform will deport every single illegal migrant on our shores and stop the boats.”
His warning comes as figures highlighted by Reform UK show that the average daily arrival rate has risen by around 70% since Andy Burnham took office.
During Keir Starmer’s 200 days in office this year, 12,439 migrants arrived by small boat - an average of 62.2 a day. In Burnham’s first 80 days, another 8,466 arrived, averaging 105.8 a day.
That means Burnham has already overseen arrivals equivalent to more than two-thirds of Starmer’s total, despite having served for less than half as long.
These latest crossings underline the urgency of securing Britain’s borders. Farage’s response makes clear that Reform would treat the crisis as a matter of national security.
With 1,739 arrivals recorded in a single week, Farage is demanding a decisive change of course. Under Reform’s Operation Fortress, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines would intercept small boats in the Channel and return them to France. The policy would also see illegal immigrants detained and deported, asylum hotels closed and Britain leave the European Convention on Human Rights to remove legal barriers to deportation.
“This is an out of control disaster that poses a massive threat to our national security”, Farage said.
“It’s only getting worse under Open Borders Burnham. Reform will deport every single illegal migrant on our shores and stop the boats.”
His warning comes as figures highlighted by Reform UK show that the average daily arrival rate has risen by around 70% since Andy Burnham took office.
During Keir Starmer’s 200 days in office this year, 12,439 migrants arrived by small boat - an average of 62.2 a day. In Burnham’s first 80 days, another 8,466 arrived, averaging 105.8 a day.
That means Burnham has already overseen arrivals equivalent to more than two-thirds of Starmer’s total, despite having served for less than half as long.
These latest crossings underline the urgency of securing Britain’s borders. Farage’s response makes clear that Reform would treat the crisis as a matter of national security.
With 1,739 arrivals recorded in a single week, Farage is demanding a decisive change of course. Under Reform’s Operation Fortress, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines would intercept small boats in the Channel and return them to France. The policy would also see illegal immigrants detained and deported, asylum hotels closed and Britain leave the European Convention on Human Rights to remove legal barriers to deportation.
