UK defence secretary John Healey says Britain has ‘lost control of borders’ | Here’s what’s happening

UK defence secretary John Healey recently admitted that Britain has “lost control of its borders.” The defence secretary’s statement comes after over 1,000 migrants were caught trying to cross the English Channel.

UK Border Force vessel ‘Typhoon’, carrying migrants picked up at sea attempting to cross the English Channel from France(AFP/Representational)

Describing the scenes as “shocking”, Healey told Sky News that the previous government, led by Conservatives and Rishi Sunak has left the UK asylum system in “chaos.”

Over 1,000 migrants cross over the Channel

On Saturday, the UK reported that over 1,194 migrants had crossed over from France through the English Channel on 18 small boats.

The UK coastguard was forced to call on fishing boats to assist as Border Force vessels and lifeboats were overloaded due to the large number of migrants.

The immigrants’ arrival on Saturday was also the largest the UK has seen in 2025. Furthermore, with this, the number of migrants crossing over has now crossed the 14,000 mark, which is 30 percent more than what was reported in 2024.

The highest number of migrants who crossed over to the UK is 1,305, which was witnessed on September 3, 2022.

Recalling the scenes from Saturday, Healey said – “Truth is, Britain’s lost control of its borders over the last five years, and the last government last year left an asylum system in chaos and record levels of immigration.”

UK presses France for joint action

The defence secretary also blamed inaction from France for the issue. Speaking to Sky News, he added that it was a “Really big problem” that French police were unable to intervene.

For years, the UK has called on France to stop and intercept the crossing in the Channel.

Healey stated that while the French have not been taking action, “for the first time in years, we’ve got the level of cooperation needed.”

“We’ve got the agreement that they will change the way they work, and our concentration now is to push them to get that into operation so they can intercept these smugglers and stop these people in the boats, not just on the shore,” he added.

Earlier this week, the UK Home Office also revealed that France is intercepting fewer Channel migrants than the past, despite a 480 million pound deal with Britain.