Joanna Lumley Warns UK Cannot Handle “Millions” Amid Rising Channel Crossings
London, UK - Actress Joanna Lumley, best known for her role in “Absolutely Fabulous,” has spoken out on the ongoing migrant crisis, stating that the UK’s capacity to support unlimited migration is limited. Lumley emphasized the need to address the root causes of migration, citing lack of food, inadequate infrastructure, and ongoing warfare in developing nations as key drivers forcing people to leave their homes.
“Most people would much rather remain in their own homeland.We all have a great protective feeling to our own homeland,” Lumley explained. “The reason they move is that either it cannot yield enough food for them to live on, or the warfare is such that they’re in danger of their lives, or they want a better life.”
Lumley called for a shift in focus towards creating stability and opportunity in migrants’ countries of origin. “How are we in the world going to spread this back again so you can stay in your fabulous country? You can grow crops, you can have factories and things like this, you can have schools and hospitals, everything can work here, but it must be made safe and stable and functioning.” She cautioned against solely focusing on border control, stating, “You don’t get to that stage by putting up fences. You do something else.”
The actress also referenced a biblical passage, stating, “There’s a lovely sentence which I read over in a bookshop in Paris, it comes from the Bible, ‘And the Lord said be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise.'”
Acknowledging public concern over numbers, Lumley stated, “Of course, a tiny country can’t support millions and millions of people, but we’ve got to start thinking outwards a bit more.”
Her comments come as official figures reveal a meaningful increase in small boat crossings. Since Labor took power in July of last year, 57,643 people have arrived in the UK via this route. The number of crossings reached 10,000 before the end of April – over a month earlier than in the previous year. In September 2025, a single small boat carried a record 125 migrants across the English Channel, the largest number ever recorded in one vessel.
