The head of the UK’s border security command will step down at the end of March as the government fails to get a grip on the number of small boats continuing to cross the Channel.
The Home Office confirmed Martin Hewitt would leave the post of border security commander after 18 months in the job.
Sir Keir Starmer appointed Mr Hewitt, a former senior police officer, shortly after becoming prime minister – tasking him with curbing the number of small boats crossing the Channel.
Since his appointment in September 2024, crossings have continued, with 58,910 people making the journey in that time.
His tenure also saw the second-highest annual total of people crossing the Channel, with 41,472 people arriving in the UK by small boat last year.
Small boat migrants accounted for 41 per cent of the total number of people claiming asylum last year, with Eritreans the most common nationality arriving in the UK after making the perilous journey across the Channel. Some 39 per cent of asylum seekers claimed sanctuary after entering the UK on a visa or on other legal routes.
It is understood he will leave at the end of the month, with an interim replacement taking over before his permanent successor is announced.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We would like to thank Martin Hewitt CBE QPM for his dedicated leadership since the creation of the Border Security Command.
“Over the past 18 months, the Border Security Command has brought government agencies, law enforcement and international partners together to tackle people smuggling gangs, as well as seeing the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act into law.”
Mr Hewitt previously served as chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, co-ordinating all of Britain’s police forces as they entered Covid lockdown rules.
In October 2025, he told MPs that continued crossings were “frustrating” but insisted that deterring people from making the journey was “always going to take time”.
So far this year, some 3,863 people have arrived in the UK via small boat, according to official figures, including 144 people in two boats on Thursday.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “The government’s complete failure on small boats isn’t down to Martin Hewitt.
“It’s because Keir Starmer and Shabana Mahmood are too weak to take the necessary action, such as coming out of the ECHR and deporting all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival.”
More to follow….
