Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe has strongly rejected calls for an amnesty for illegal migrants in Britain, following suggestions by human rights lawyer Ivon Sampson.
Speaking on GB News, Sampson argued that offering an amnesty would enable better tracking of migrants, stating: "The only sensible thing to do is to offer an amnesty - then we have a sensible policy of ensuring those people who come in are tracked."
Lowe hit back, saying: "These human rights lawyers pork barrel a living on the back of all this Tony Blair legislation which has created our problem."
He called for tougher measures, suggesting migrants should be placed in "uncomfortable, untented camps" on remote islands.
The clash comes as new figures reveal up to one in 12 people living in London are illegal migrants.
A previously confidential report commissioned by Thames Water estimates between 390,355 and 585,533 illegal migrants are living in the capital, with a median figure of 487,944.
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The study, conducted by Edge Analytics and Leeds University experts, suggests most illegal migrants initially arrived on work, study or visitor visas before overstaying.
The research indicates around one million illegal migrants could be living in the UK, with 60 per cent concentrated in London.
The findings were obtained through Freedom of Information requests to Thames Water, who commissioned the study to better understand their "hidden" service users.
Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf warned the situation represents "not just a national emergency, it's a national security emergency."
He expressed particular concern about demographics, noting: "90 per cent of the people crossing the Channel are men."
"The number of military age males making that journey legally surpasses the number of available soldiers, both standing and territorial," Yusuf told GB News.
Deputy Reform UK leader Richard Tice added: "One in 12 people in London are here illegally, probably working illegally using taxpayer-funded public infrastructure and services. It is totally unacceptable."
The Home Office reports having removed 16,400 illegal migrants in the past six months, the highest figure in half a decade.
More than 1,000 people have already crossed the Channel in small boats during the first 23 days of 2025.
This follows 38,816 Channel crossings in 2024, the second highest total on record.
A Home Office spokesman said: "This Government is strengthening global partnerships and rooting out the criminal gangs who profit from small boat crossings which threaten lives."
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called the figures "deeply alarming" and urged the Labour government to "urgently start deporting far more illegal immigrants."
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Speaking on GB News, Sampson argued that offering an amnesty would enable better tracking of migrants, stating: "The only sensible thing to do is to offer an amnesty - then we have a sensible policy of ensuring those people who come in are tracked."
Lowe hit back, saying: "These human rights lawyers pork barrel a living on the back of all this Tony Blair legislation which has created our problem."
He called for tougher measures, suggesting migrants should be placed in "uncomfortable, untented camps" on remote islands.
The clash comes as new figures reveal up to one in 12 people living in London are illegal migrants.
A previously confidential report commissioned by Thames Water estimates between 390,355 and 585,533 illegal migrants are living in the capital, with a median figure of 487,944.
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The study, conducted by Edge Analytics and Leeds University experts, suggests most illegal migrants initially arrived on work, study or visitor visas before overstaying.
The research indicates around one million illegal migrants could be living in the UK, with 60 per cent concentrated in London.
The findings were obtained through Freedom of Information requests to Thames Water, who commissioned the study to better understand their "hidden" service users.
Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf warned the situation represents "not just a national emergency, it's a national security emergency."
He expressed particular concern about demographics, noting: "90 per cent of the people crossing the Channel are men."
"The number of military age males making that journey legally surpasses the number of available soldiers, both standing and territorial," Yusuf told GB News.
Deputy Reform UK leader Richard Tice added: "One in 12 people in London are here illegally, probably working illegally using taxpayer-funded public infrastructure and services. It is totally unacceptable."
The Home Office reports having removed 16,400 illegal migrants in the past six months, the highest figure in half a decade.
More than 1,000 people have already crossed the Channel in small boats during the first 23 days of 2025.
This follows 38,816 Channel crossings in 2024, the second highest total on record.
A Home Office spokesman said: "This Government is strengthening global partnerships and rooting out the criminal gangs who profit from small boat crossings which threaten lives."
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called the figures "deeply alarming" and urged the Labour government to "urgently start deporting far more illegal immigrants."
Find Out More...