More than 1,000 migrants arrived in the United Kingdom in small boats on the same weekend that Shabana Mahmood took office as home secretary, pushing the 2025 total past 30,000 and presenting the new minister with an immediate border challenge.
The Home Office said 1,097 people reached the UK on 17 small boats on Saturday, the highest single-day total since May 31, and 37 percent higher than the number at the same point last year. The government said the figure took the 2025 tally to about 30,100 crossings and that 53,342 migrants had arrived in small boats since Labour took office on July 4 last year.
Mahmood described the wave of crossings as "utterly unacceptable" and said she would explore a range of measures to "restore order to our immigration system." She said a returns agreement with France would begin soon and that, under the deal, "people crossing in small boats can now be detained and removed to France," with the first returns expected "imminently." The new home secretary also said she expected to order transfers of migrants from hotels to military barracks and would consider changes to human-rights laws to make rejecting and deporting some asylum claimants easier.
A government source told reporters that ministers were close to a reciprocal returns arrangement with Germany, following the agreement with France, and indicated "nothing is off the table" as officials examine legal and logistical options. Defence Secretary John Healey said Prime Minister Keir Starmer had told the new Cabinet to "go up a gear" in response to what he called "a really tough" first year in office.
Opposition parties seized on the weekend figures. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Labour had "lost control of our borders" and blamed the government for scrapping the previous administration's Rwanda policy, which ministers had argued would deter crossings. Reform UK and its leaders also called for more radical action. Zia Yusuf, Reform's head of policy, said Labour was "tinkering around the edges" and called for withdrawal from human-rights treaties and mass deportations. Nigel Farage, addressing his party's conference last week, has pledged to end Channel crossings rapidly if elected.
A Labour insider told The Sunday Times that Mahmood could pursue a far-reaching overhaul of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), starting "with the unthinkable and working backwards," comments that underscore ongoing debate inside and outside government over legal constraints on removals and asylum decisions. On Sunday, Healey said the prime minister would not leave the ECHR, even as ministers signalled willingness to consider legislative and treaty-level changes to speed returns.
The surge in crossings comes after a year of record numbers. The Home Office said the 30,100 crossings so far this year exceed totals at the same point in 2024 (22,028) and 2023 (21,918). The 2025 milestone was reached notably earlier in the year than in previous years; the comparable total was not passed until late October in 2024.
Ministers have already taken emergency steps to manage arrivals, including expanding hotel accommodation and preparing contingency sites such as military bases. Officials acknowledged the logistical strain on local authorities and charities tasked with processing asylum claims and providing initial accommodation.
Mahmood's immediate actions will be watched closely by ministers, opposition figures and advocates for asylum seekers. Her statements signalled a blend of operational measures—detention and returns—and consideration of legal reforms to reduce barriers to deportation. The government has not published full details of how returns to France or Germany would operate, including how removals would be managed legally and practically, and said only that initial returns were expected imminently.
As the new home secretary settles into the role, officials said work will continue on both short-term capacity and longer-term policy changes. The crossings statistics and weekend surge reinforce the central political challenge of managing irregular migration by sea while navigating legal obligations and international agreements.