Small boat migrants accounted for less than one in ten deportations last year, figures showed today, piling pressure on Andy Burnham to break his silence over his immigration plans.
Ministers admitted just days before the new Prime Minister was installed that small boat arrivals made up just 7 per cent of migrants booted out.
But even this included hundreds returned under ex-PM Sir Keir Starmer‘s ‘one in, one out’ deal with France, for which the UK has been forced to accept a migrant in return for every one deported there. Some deported under the scheme have even returned to the UK illegally.
Reform and the Tories today said the figures proved it was ‘insane’ that Mr Burnham failed to mention immigration during his maiden speech as PM in Downing Street on Monday, despite it being one of the public’s top concerns in a string of polls.
He has unveiled a commitment to eradicate rough sleeping and an unfunded VAT cut to household energy bills, but the public remain in the dark about what he plans to do on immigration, including small boat crossings.
Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, told the Mail: ‘Like the Tories, Labour continue to leave our borders open and welcome hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants from countries that hate Britain.
‘They deport almost none of them, instead letting them live a life of leisure at the expense of the British taxpayer. Reform will detain and deport all illegal migrants in Britain.’
The Tories’ shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: ‘It is an insane situation.
Small boat migrants accounted for less than one in ten deportations last year, figures showed today
Andy Burnham failed to mention immigration once in his maiden speech as PM on Monday, when he was handed the keys to No 10
The Tories’ shadow home secretary Chris Philp said it was ‘insane’ that Andy Burnham didn’t mention immigration in his maiden speech as PM
‘Labour’s failure to return illegal immigrants sends a message to anyone trying to do the same that the UK is a soft touch, and Labour will not lift a finger to stop them.
‘It doesn’t matter who is in charge, Labour are always the same.
‘Only by leaving the European Convention on Human Rights will we be able to deport all illegal arrivals, but Labour do not have the backbone to do this.’
The figures emerged in a written Parliamentary question slipped out last week while Westminster was focused on Sir Keir’s impending departure.
Former home office minister Alex Norris, who was promoted to the Cabinet as Justice Secretary by Mr Burnham on Monday, was asked by Tory MP David Reed ‘what proportion of small boat arrivals were removed in 2025?’
Mr Norris replied: ‘Around 7% of individuals removed or returned in the year ending March 2026 had arrived in the UK via small boat.’
It means around 2,700 of about 39,000 total voluntary and forced removals in the 12 months to April this year related to small boat migrants.
Over the same period, 39,271 small boat migrants arrived on British shores. This was up from 38,023 for the previous financial year (2024/25).
Only around 8,400 migrants who arrived on small boats were returned from the UK to another country between 2018 and the year ending April 2026.
This represents just 4% of the total number of small boat arrivals during this period.
One of Labour’s first acts after winning the 2024 election was to scrap the Tories’ Rwanda deportation plan, which the Conservatives say would have acted as a deterrent to more crossings.
Mr Burnham re-appointed Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary on Monday, suggesting he broadly supports her hardline planned reforms which would double the amount of time migrants have to wait to gain the legal right to remain, from five to ten years.
However, Labour sources have said he is prepared to water these down and he has said nothing so far about what he plans to do on immigration and to tackle Channel crossings.
He has previously stated that Britain should remain a member of the ECHR.
Since Sir Keir launched his vaunted ‘one in, one out’ scheme with Paris last August, 1,087 arrivals have been sent to France. But 1,117 have been brought here from across the Channel.
There were around 39,000 voluntary and forced deportations in the 12 months to April 2026, up from 36,500 the year before, which was partly driven by the scheme.
The Home Office was contacted for comment.
Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: ‘The message from the tiny number of small-boat arrivals being removed is clear: make it to Britain and you’re likely to be welcomed, well looked after and allowed to stay.
‘After two years of gimmicks and failed policies, Labour is still doing more to attract than deter.
‘Only detention on arrival and swift removal will change that.
‘Will our new PM have the resolve to legislate and back his Home Secretary to make it happen?’
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We have returned or deported almost 70,000 people who were here illegally – a 41% increase compared to the last government.
‘We are bearing down on small boat crossings, with removals of small boat migrants at record levels and asylum claims down by 12%.
‘We will not stop in our determination to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to Britain and remove those with no right to be here.’
