Despite GB News’s analysis finding Mr Burnham’s record is currently worse than three out of five of his predecessors, the Prime Minister defends his record by pointing out small boat crossings are down compared to the same point in 2025.
Speaking in his keynote speech at the Labour Party Conference in September, the Prime Minister said: “People arriving on small boats down 40 per cent on the last year, 50 per cent from the early 2020s.”
The decrease stood at 39 per cent as of November 1, with 2026 set to record the fewest Channel crossings in a year since 2021.
However, 22,545 have still made the 21-mile journey so far this calendar year.
