- Masked far-right protesters have tried to block migrants from entering at southern ports.
- A total of 781 people crossed the Channel on Wednesday, the highest daily figure this year.
- Burnham declined to set a date for ending small-boat crossings.
- He said the loss of cooperation with neighbours after Brexit "hasn't helped".
MASKED far-right protesters have been trying to block migrants from entering at ports in southern England. The protests come as Channel crossings hit their highest daily level this year and the prime minister declines to say when they will stop.
A total of 781 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Wednesday, the most on a single day so far in 2026.
Prime minister Andy Burnham said on Friday that people smugglers were "changing their tactics" to get around a crackdown by British and French authorities.
"They are changing their tactics but we will be relentless in chasing them down," Burnham told BBC South East.
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Asked when the crossings would end, he declined to give a date. "We don't want to see any crossings at all," he said.
Masked protests at ports
As asylum seekers have turned to new routes, protests have broken out across southern England in recent weeks.
Far-right activist Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, has led protests in which hundreds of people dressed in black, many with their faces covered, have tried to block migrants from entering at ports.
Thomas was charged on Thursday with criminal damage in connection with the alleged slashing of a dinghy in the Channel earlier this week.
Burnham condemned the protests. "I recognise the concern that many people in the public have around immigration. But this is something different," he told ITV's regional channel in south-east England.
Record 230 migrants cross Channel in single small boat
"That's not the British way, as far as I'm concerned," the Labour leader said.
Brexit 'hasn't helped'
Burnham acknowledged that Britain's exit from the European Union in 2020 had weakened efforts to tackle the crossings.
"I do point to the loss of collaboration with neighbours that came with Brexit. That hasn't helped," he said.
He insisted the measures introduced by his predecessor, Keir Starmer, "are working". Burnham became prime minister in July after Starmer resigned following a series of missteps.
Overall numbers are down. Some 18,609 people have crossed from France so far in 2026, a fall of 42 per cent on the same period last year, and arrivals remain lower than in previous years.
Smuggling gangs adapt to Channel crackdown
Successive governments have struggled to curb the crossings, which have become one of the most contentious issues in British politics. Reform UK has risen in the polls amid growing anti-immigration sentiment.
What happens next
Labour holds its first annual conference under Burnham's leadership from Sunday. With polls in its favour, the party will be under pressure to set out concrete policy detail on the issue.
(With inputs from agencies)
