Alex Armstrong and Ellie Costello left Labour MP Steve Reed stuttering as they challenged him about immigration figures live on GB News telling him he was âmisleadingâ. The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government appeared on the channelâs breakfast show as migrant arrivals on small boats hit a record high. The figure is set to hit 200,000 for the first time since the crisis began eight years ago, after another 800 arrivals over the weekend. The total stood at 199,828 by Sunday night â meaning just one more boat could push the figure over the threshold.
âThis government has removed now over 60,000 people who had no right to be here. We are closing down the hotels that were full of asylum seekers opened by the Conservative government.
âSome of the Conservative ministers who did that now sit in Reform UK, they opened the hotels,â he claimed.
âWe are closing the hotels, and weâre able to do that because weâre removing people have no right to be here. If people cross our channel, no, they will be sent back again. They wonât comeâŠâ
He was interrupted by Armstrong, who told him: âThat is thatâs misleading. Yes, you are sending a record amount of people that shouldnât be here back. Youâre talking about illegal migrants that have come into the country.
Alex Armstrong and Ellie Costello challenged a Labour minister about immigration figures (Image: GB News)
âBut of those who have come over here on small boats, only 7,612 have been deported. So itâs not much of a deterrent, is it? Weâll get that many coming into the country in a year, and thatâs over the course of almost two years of government. Itâs not a very good record to say youâve only deported 7000 illegal migrants.â
Stuttering Reed answered: âWe are removing people who have no right to be here, and⊠we are working with the French government [so] we can take more action on the French coast to stop people are coming across the channel in the first place.
âThe Prime Minister this weekend was at the European political Summit, which isâŠabout the whole of Europe, not just the European Union, looking at what more we can do with our friends right across Europe, whether theyâre EU or outside the EU, sSo we can tackle this problem at source.
âWe canât do it on our own. Weâre working more closely with the French, and we are deporting more people who have no right to be here than ever before.â
