Reform UK insists using Navy to stop migrant boats would be legal

More than 2,000 migrants have arrived in the UK on small boats since Andy Burnham became prime minister two weeks ago, and 326 people crossed the English Channel on Saturday. Home Office figures show crossings so far this year are down around 43% compared to the same period in 2025.

The number of small boats crossing the Channel have been on an overall downward trend since it peaked in 2022, Home Office figures show.

Speaking earlier, Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said the Labour government’s push for greater action against smuggling gangs was a “model that is working”.

She added that she did not believe Reform’s plan would work, citing the involvement of the Navy as an example of “gimmicky” ideas explored by the previous Conservative government.

“You’d spend a lot of time arguing with France, and not enough time actually getting to grips with the problem,” she added.

The prime minister visited Dover at the weekend, where he said the government was “changing the whole approach” to small boats, as the numbers of enforcement officers tackling people-smuggling gangs doubled on both sides of the Channel.

According to the Home Office, the number of National Crime Agency (NCA) officers tackling smuggling gangs facilitating small boat crossings had risen to almost 800 from 376 at the start of 2025.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Reform’s plan was not “credible”, adding: “They can’t answer the question how they would disembark immigrants back in France if the French don’t agree”.

“Reform’s policy I am afraid as usual is on the back of a fag packet”.