See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy JOE ROSSITER, REPORTER Published: 16:55 BST, 25 July 2026 | Updated: 16:55 BST, 25 July 2026
Andy Burnham was out for a jog near his northern home today as more migrants crossed the Channel two days after 165 arrived on a single boat.Clad in a yellow Adidas Boston Marathon T-shirt from 2019, the new Prime Minister bobbed along the road near his home in Warrington, Cheshire, as pressure mounted on him to break his immigration silence.More than 500 small-boat migrants arrived in the first week of Mr Burnham's premiership, according to Home Office data released during the Prime Minister's unveiling of his No10 North 'gimmick' 300 miles away from Westminster.Today two men thought to be migrants arrived in the UK after rowing a tiny dinghy across the Channel.Pictures showed the boat arriving at the Border Security Command compound in Dover, Kent, after it was reported they were rescued by the RNLI during their attempt.Their crossing came two days after a record 165 migrants crossed the water in a single boat, dubbed a 'mega dinghy'.Estimated at around 13m (42ft) long, it was the same length as a standard bus.Border Security Command towed the boat as it arrived in Dover on Thursday afternoon. Andy Burnham was out for a jog near his home in Warrington, Cheshire, on Saturday But he faced mounting pressure to break his silence on immigration after migrants continued to flood in from the Channel during his first week in office A dinghy used by people thought to have been migrants lay on the quayside at Border Security Command in Dover, KentSome 103 people arrived on Friday after crossing in two boats on Friday, bringing the year's total to 13,110.Mr Burnham has been criticised for his failure to mention immigration once during his first week in No10 despite the issue topping a string of recent voter priority polls.Instead he has focused on lowering bills and bus fares while calling the launch of his Northern Whitehall operation the 'best day of my life'.But Reform UK leader Nigel Farage branded the Labour leader 'open borders Burnham' and said he 'will do nothing to stop the illegal and dangerous invasion of our country, he won't even mention it'.Labour peer Lord Glasman called on the new Prime Minister to take a more 'aggressive' approach on the Channel crisis.He said: 'What's happening here is absolutely outrageous. I've been in favour for a long time of putting the Royal Navy in the Channel and literally stopping the boats... we've got to have a much more aggressive policy towards the French government.'The arrivals came after figures showed small-boat migrants accounted for just seven per cent of deportations last year, suggesting most are not deported. More than 500 small-boat migrants have arrived in Burnham's first week, with one 'mega dinghy' a staggering 12m long and carrying 165 people The number of arrivals so far this year – more than 13,000 – is over 40 per cent down on last year
