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Andy Burnham has been accused of “gaslighting” Britons by blaming Brexit for the country’s small boats crisis.

The Prime Minister claimed a “loss of collaboration” with neighbouring countries following Britain’s departure from the EU had made it harder to stop illegal Channel crossings.

His comments came at the end of another bruising week for the Home Office, with two men dying within 48 hours while attempting the journey.

More than 700 migrants also reached the UK on Wednesday, while two boats managed to land on British shores undetected in the space of just two days.

During a blitz of regional interviews ahead of Labour’s conference on Sunday, the Prime Minister was pressed on whether he would stop small boats completely – a commitment already made by the Conservatives and Reform UK.

Mr Burnham told BBC South East: “You’ve got to keep working towards that. I do point to the loss of collaboration with neighbours that came with Brexit. That hasn’t helped.

“We had a more… cooperative system, if you like, in the past, so we are not able to have the same levels of collaboration that we used to have, but I don’t put that forward as a reason why we won’t keep working until we get the crossings right down.”

He added: “That is our goal, that we don’t want to see any crossings at all. I’m not going to give you a date by which we can do that, or a promise that we will do it, as other governments have done in terms of a particular deadline.

“But what I will say to you is I will not stop nor will the Home Secretary until we bear down every element of this criminal, illegal activity and that we do so in a way that gets the numbers right now.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp MP reacted furiously, telling the Express: “This is total nonsense. Andy Burnham is gaslighting us all to hide his own failures, with over 1,000 illegal immigrants coming in this week alone.

“Under the previous Dublin arrangements in the EU, we only ever sent a handful of people back to Europe, and in fact received more than we sent.

“While in Dublin, removals only amounted to a tiny fraction of small boat arrivals. Other European countries are still in the Dublin scheme and it hasn’t helped Germany, France or even Ireland with their illegal migration problems. Andy Burnham is not telling the truth.

“The only way to stop the crossings is to deport all illegal immigrants upon arrival. To do this we need to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. And that’s the one thing that weak borders Burnham will never do.”

Reform UKs leader Nigel Farage MP said: “Before Brexit we had agreements that meant that we took more people than we sent back. Burnham is clearly clueless on policy detail.

“Many people voted for Brexit because the British public wanted to control our borders.

“Successive governments have betrayed that, and Burnham will clearly be no different.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood hit out at undetected migrant landings on UK beaches this week.

She ordered an urgent review after two boats reached Kent without being intercepted.

The 44 migrants who arrived on Thursday in one boat was a significantly lower number than the 781 who came over in 10 small boats the previous day – the highest number for a single day in 2026.

So far this year 18,565 people have made the Channel crossing, which is 42% lower than the same period in 2025 when 32,188 had made the treacherous journey to England in small boats.

This week’s crossing has taken the number of small boat arrivals since Labour stormed to victory in the 2024 General Election to 83,279 – this is more than the number of soldiers in the British Army.

The Government’s controversial “one in, one out” migrant deal with France is due to expire at the end of this month, with no replacement agreement yet in place.

Reports have suggested Paris could demand that Britain accepts migrants from across the EU as part of any successor deal.

The existing scheme, under which some migrants who cross the Channel illegally are returned to France in exchange for asylum seekers being brought legally to Britain, costs an average of £56,000 for every person sent back, according to Ms Mahmood.

Government figures show that between August 4, 2025 and June 30 this year, 1,087 people were returned to France under the scheme, while 1,117 were transferred to Britain.

Over the same period, 27,920 migrants arrived in the UK by small boat.

The two migrants’ deaths this week happened when around 70 people were preparing to make the treacherous journey from the Camiers and Sainte-Cécile area on Thursday.

The death, from a suspected heart attack, came 24 hours after another man also died on the beach of Neufchâtel-Hardelot following an attempt to leave for England.

French prosecutors have opened criminal enquiries into the tragedies.

At least 21 people – including women and children – have died on the Channel route towards the UK since the beginning of the year, estimates have suggested.

Mr Philp said: “People are dying because of these crossings. I recently witnessed first-hand on a French beach young men aggressively shoving women and children off a boat as they tried to board. This is a deadly and increasingly chaotic trade run by criminal gangs, putting vulnerable people at enormous risk. When people arrive here, some go on to commit appalling crimes, including murder and rape. It is time for a completely different approach. Australia showed more than a decade ago that it is possible to break the people-smuggling model.”

Elsewhere, Mr Burnham said: “Boat crossings are down by 50% on what they were six years ago. And that shows the measures that we’re taking are tough and they’re working. What it also shows is the gangs are having to try different things, different routes, different vessels.

“And again, although that’s difficult for people where those changes are being felt. It also is a sign that what we’re doing is working, we’ve been disrupting the gangs, they are having to change.

“And we will be relentless with our changes as well to make sure we keep getting the numbers down. But if you look at the figures, there is huge progress year on year and overall a massive reduction since the early 2020s.”

He also said turning up to a protest dressed in black and wearing a face covering is “not the British way”.

Six people were arrested after anti-migrant protesters gathered at a marina in Gosport, Hampshire on Tuesday night.

Some of the protesters wore black clothing and face coverings, and chanted “send them back”.

“I recognise the concern that many people in the public have around immigration.

“But this is something different, Mr Burnham told ITV Meridian.

“You don’t take it out on the police. You don’t attack the police. You don’t intimidate the rest of the public.

“If, you know, you are just expressing a concern.

“This is a different agenda.

“And it needs to be seen as such, and dealt with as such.

“But at the same time, addressing the genuine concern of people.

“I think those who bring this fear to the streets are not, in any way representing the vast majority of people.”