Burnham blames Brexit for small boats crisis, rules out early election
Ahead of Labour's conference, the PM says loss of EU cooperation has hampered efforts to stop Channel crossings but insists there will be no vote before 2029.
What to know
- Burnham says Brexit's 'loss of collaboration with neighbours' has hampered UK efforts to stop Channel crossings, ahead of Labour's party conference.
- He simultaneously ruled out an early general election before 2029, saying he can 'knock dead' the idea.
- The comments follow a difficult week for the Home Office: over 700 crossings in a single day and two undetected boat landings, even though 2026 totals remain well below 2024 and 2025 levels.
- Burnham has separately declined to rule out a pledge to rejoin the EU in Labour's next manifesto, adding to speculation about the party's Brexit stance.
The dispute Whether blaming lost EU cooperation for the boats crisis is a genuine structural explanation or a convenient political line, and whether rejoining the EU would actually fix the problem. · positions read across 6 posts and comments
Leaving the EU genuinely removed cooperation tools (Dublin convention, database sharing) that would help stop crossings.
-
“Highlighting that leaving the EU tore up cross-border security agreements and returns mechanisms hits the root of the Channel crisis.”
Fife4Europe · Mastodon ↗
Rejoining the EU wouldn't necessarily solve the problem given the current political makeup of major EU states.
-
“Although to be fair, maybe re-joining an EU with the RN and AfD running its two largest economies would deal with the boats. Just not in the way Burnham might imagine…”
MordauntSnagge · Reddit ↗
Burnham's Brexit framing sits oddly given Labour's own policy of accepting Brexit rather than campaigning to reverse it.
-
“Given that Labour policy was ti crack on with Brexit, it was likely to be ine if the pro-rejoin party types.”
IntravenusDiMilo_Tap · Reddit ↗
“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.”
Andy Burnham, Prime Minister · BBC South East interview, reported by The Independent ↗ · Sep 24
Andy Burnham Prime Minister
Shabana Mahmood Home Secretary
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
-
2
Reddit commenters question Burnham's EU-cooperation argument
Commenters pushed back, noting loss of the Dublin convention and database-sharing may explain repeat crossing attempts, while others doubted rejoining an EU led by right-wing parties would help.
“The lack of Dublin convention and sharing of databases does seem to have encouraged people to double dip, instead of immediately going underground in Europe they try again in the UK.”
— asmiggs, Reddit commenter · source -
1
Sure. Brexit meant we huffed out of our agreements on managing the flow of asylum seekers. The boats symbolise “taking back control” by going it alone. But it’s only a “crisis” because politicians and media choose to blame immigrants for their own failures.
2 more of the top 3 · 5 posts in this stretch
-
Your edit is six variations of "that doesn't disprove Brexit caused it". I do not have to disprove your causal assertion. You have to establish it. I accept that applications rose substantially; you are claiming that ending Dublin caused that rise, and timing alone is not proof. If losing Dublin caused the subsequent surge, show how many post-2021…
-
The lack of Dublin convention and sharing of databases does seem to have encouraged people to double dip, instead of immediately going underground in Europe they try again in the UK. An easier sell for the people smugglers perhaps, like the Rwanda plan was supposed to be but without spending millions on it.
-
-
1
Pro-EU social media users back Burnham's Brexit framing
A pro-EU Mastodon poster argued that leaving the EU tore up cross-border security agreements and returns mechanisms, calling the loss of cooperation the root of the Channel crisis.
“Highlighting that leaving the EU tore up cross-border security agreements and returns mechanisms hits the root of the Channel crisis.”
— Fife4Europe -
first by The Independent, 6d ago
1 more headline
-
F
Highlighting that leaving the EU tore up cross-border security agreements and returns mechanisms hits the root of the Channel crisis. Pretending isolationism wouldn't compromise border control was always a myth. Why ignore the cost of losing cooperation? 🤔 # FBPE https://www. independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli…
-
-
background
Burnham rules out early general election before 2029 — Speaking before Labour's conference, Burnham said he can 'knock dead' the idea of an early election, ruling out a vote before 2029.
-
background
Burnham blames Brexit for hampering border cooperation — In broadcast interviews ahead of Labour's conference, Burnham said Britain has suffered a 'loss of collaboration with neighbours' since Brexit that has made it harder to control Channel crossings, while insisting the government would keep working to reduce numbers.
-
background
Home Office has difficult week on Channel crossings — More than 700 people reached the UK in small boats on a single Wednesday, and two separate vessels reached British shores undetected within two days.
What people are saying 2 voices from 1 site · best of 6 · verbatim
- Sep 26
-
Given that Labour policy was ti crack on with Brexit, it was likely to be ine if the pro-rejoin party types.
- Sep 25
-
True. Although to be fair, maybe re-joining an EU with the RN and AfD running its two largest economies would deal with the boats. Just not in the way Burnham might imagine…