ANDY BURNHAM was urged to work with the Border Force union and refugee charities yesterday after he became the first British Prime Minister to publicly back tackling Channel boat crossings by creating safe routes for migrants.

The Labour leader promised a more humane strategy to deter the dangerous crossings as a former Royal Navy commander rubbished Reform UK’s plan to have the Royal Navy intercept and return migrants to France and Belgium instead.

Speaking on a visit to Dover after an estimated 50,000 migrants entered Spain’s north African territory last week, Mr Burnham said that Britain had to “deal with the issue rather than play politics with the issue.”

“The public don’t like the idea that the border looks like it’s not controlled,” he said.

“We need to bring back that control, but also we need to offer support for people who genuinely need it. 

“It’s about changing the whole approach, and slowly but surely we are putting in place those building blocks of a very different approach to this issue.”

The PM said that he had been assured by his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez, that approximately 98 per cent of those who entered Spain’s north African territory had now been returned to Morocco.

While that dealt “substantially” with the immediate issue, he warned that “there’s a broader issue about the Schengen area and our relationship with it.”

Reform leader Nigel Farage meanwhile claimed the crossings in Ceuta in which at least 72 people died showed the “urgency” of his party’s so-called Operation Fortress plan to intercept and return migrant boats crossing the English Channel.

He insisted that using the Royal Navy to transport migrants to France or Belgium would comply with international law as retired royal Naval Commander Tom Sharpe told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “A billion-pound warship… is not best used ferrying people around.

“You’re better off using an actual ferry.”

Public and Commercial Services (PCS) general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “The PM has acknowledged that the safest and most effective way to tackle dangerous small boat crossings, and to preserve life, is through the provision of safe routes.

“PCS represents workers who are on the front line of responding to these crossings and rescuing people from the sea, and those dealing with asylum casework.  It is they who are best placed to judge matters.”

She urged Mr Burnham to engage with the PCS to “discuss a fair, practical and humane system that protects both lives and the integrity of our borders.”

Stop the War Coalition national convener Lindsey German warned: “Of course warships are not suitable for rescuing people in peril like this.

“But we have a government refusing to spend on health, education, and treating refugees and asylum-seekers decently, while it pours limitless resources into the military.”

Care4Calais chief operations officer Sydney Sopher said: “We welcome the Prime Minister becoming the first UK Prime Minister to publicly recognise that safe routes must be part of the solution to dangerous Channel crossings. 

“The only people benefiting from the lack of safe routes are the smugglers.”

Asked about Reform’s proposal, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Royal Navy had primacy for small boat crossings under the previous government in 2022. I’d remind you there was no reduction in small boat crossings in that period.

“That’s why we’re driving down the number of crossings. It’s why they’re down almost 50 per cent compared to last year and why almost 60 per cent of attempted crossings have been stopped since this government came to power.”

Refugee Council’s chief policy analyst Jon Featonby said: “People fleeing war and persecution have almost no safe and legal way to reach the UK right now, increasing the risk that men, women and children will be pushed towards dangerous small boat journeys out of desperation to find safety and reunite with loved ones. 

“Fewer refugees would risk channel crossings if the government created safe pathways for people to come to the UK, like they previously did for people coming from Ukraine and Afghanistan. 

“That would be a real step forward, unlike these impractical and dehumanising plans.”

A Momentum spokesperson said: “Reform’s Trump-like plans to stop small boats crossing the Channel is divisive and reckless.

“The government must condemn this by upholding international law and expanding safe and legal routes for refugees.”

Official provisional figures suggest 14,526 have entered Britain so far this year — 43 per cent lower than the number recorded by this time last year and down 14 per cent on the same period in 2024.