Lucy Powell has refused to confirm whether the illegal migrants who entered the UK on ‘undetected’ small boats this week have all been detained.
Speaking to GB News, the Education Secretary was asked twice whether she can “guarantee” People’s Channel viewers that the illegal migrants had been caught.
The latest illegal migrant crossing took place at Samphire Hoe between Dover and Folkestone on Tuesday, following an initial undetected arrival near Folkestone on Monday.
Discussing the crossings, Ms Powell was asked by GB News whether she can “reassure viewers” that “all of the migrants on those two small boats have now been detained, and there are none on the loose”.
Ms Powell responded: “Look, the Home Secretary has rightly demanded answers to this, and she’s ordered a quick and robust review of what happened here.
“Small boat crossings remain a challenge, but we have seen a significant fall this year in the number of people coming across on small boats, thanks to the range of measures that this Government has brought into effect.”
Lucy Powell has refused to confirm whether the illegal migrants who entered the UK on ‘undetected’ small boats have all been detained
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GB NEWS
Defending Labour’s efforts to tackle illegal migration, she argued: “And it does require a huge range of measures to do that, from dealing with things at source, from tackling people coming here in the first place, from the pull factors, from having strong border security, from having the tough powers that we need to detain to deport people.
“All of these things which this Government has done over the last two years, are starting to bear fruit, with significant falls in the number of small boat crossings and a significant fall in the number of asylum hotels and accommodation around the country as well.
“But more needs to be done and we’ll continue to do it.”
Pushing Ms Powell a second time, GB News Political Correspondent Olivia Utley asked the Labour minister: “I’m not the Home Secretary, but you can be sure that all action is being taken and people are detained.
Shabana Mahmood has ordered an ‘urgent review’ from Border Security Command following the crossings
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PA“That is what happens, and people who have no right to be here are removed as well. We’ve seen a record number of removals of people being deported too, so we are absolutely on this.”
Ms Powell made clear: “Of course, there has been a breach here in boats coming across that haven’t been detected, and that’s why the Home Secretary is taking swift action to find out what’s gone wrong here and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
In total, 21 people were detained on Tuesday after the arrival at Samphire Hoe, with five detained on Monday in Folkestone.
Before Monday, no small boat arrivals to the UK coast without an escort had been officially recorded since September 6 2025.
Ms Powell told GB News that the Government is ‘absolutely on this’
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GB NEWS
Last year’s undetected crossing was the only other incident recorded since the Home Office began keeping data in 2023.
Reacting to the small boat crossings, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told GB News that she would “resurrect the Rwanda plan” to ensure a “strong deterrent” is in place.
She said: “We need a deterrent so the people know that if they get here, they will be sent if not back to where they came from, sent to a place like Rwanda – even just talking about that plan dropped the numbers.
“Labour don’t really want to stop the boats. Andy Burnham talked about dispersing people all around the country, and that’s why Piddington has this problem.”