Former Tory minister Gavin Williamson found himself on the end of a fiery GB News exchange as Ben Leo took him to task over the former government’s role in the migrant crisis.
Williamson has been critical in recent days of Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, revealing a migrant hotel in Cannock, Staffordshire, will reopen despite a campaign to have it shut.
Ben quizzed the former Defence Secretary - suggesting the former Government needs to take its fair share of the blame when discussing the need for migrant hotels.
“We shouldn’t need the hotels in the first place. They [illegal migrants] shouldn’t be here and the boats should have been stopped”, he said.
“You indeed were the defence secretary in 2019, why didn’t you deploy the Navy to stop migrant boats in their tracks?”
Williamson responded: “In 2019, the issue of large scale crossings of the Channel wasn’t there.
“You need a system where if they land in this country, they are processed quickly and sent to a third country like Rwanda or sent back home.
“Labour promised everyone they weren’t going to be opening these hotels.”
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Ben interjected, saying: “We’re talking about the time you were in government, Gavin.
“Why couldn’t you take a leaf from Australia’s book and turn them back?”
The ex-minister said Australia’s illegal migrant problem pales in comparison to Britain’s, where there is a need for a ‘swift’ process.
“That’s what you’ve seen in so many countries. We had Rwanda which was similar to what occurred in Australia”, he said.
“We were already starting to see people not staying in Britain but going to Ireland and the number of people attempting to make that dangerous problem was reducing dramatically.
“We had a real solution to a real problem.”
Net migration was then brought into focus, with Ben pointing out how the number reached an eye-watering 685,000 last year, more than three times higher than the year of the 2017 election.
“Would you like to apologise on behalf of the Conservatives for their migration record?”, Ben asked.
“I’ve always been clear of a view that we need to be getting migration into this country into tens of thousands”, said Williamson.
Ben hit back: “You were in power for 14 years, why didn’t you do it?”
Williamson said the staggering rise was brought about by policy decisions by Boris Johnson, but Rishi Sunak’s actions were starting to see benefits.
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Williamson has been critical in recent days of Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, revealing a migrant hotel in Cannock, Staffordshire, will reopen despite a campaign to have it shut.
Ben quizzed the former Defence Secretary - suggesting the former Government needs to take its fair share of the blame when discussing the need for migrant hotels.
“We shouldn’t need the hotels in the first place. They [illegal migrants] shouldn’t be here and the boats should have been stopped”, he said.
“You indeed were the defence secretary in 2019, why didn’t you deploy the Navy to stop migrant boats in their tracks?”
Williamson responded: “In 2019, the issue of large scale crossings of the Channel wasn’t there.
“You need a system where if they land in this country, they are processed quickly and sent to a third country like Rwanda or sent back home.
“Labour promised everyone they weren’t going to be opening these hotels.”
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Ben interjected, saying: “We’re talking about the time you were in government, Gavin.
“Why couldn’t you take a leaf from Australia’s book and turn them back?”
The ex-minister said Australia’s illegal migrant problem pales in comparison to Britain’s, where there is a need for a ‘swift’ process.
“That’s what you’ve seen in so many countries. We had Rwanda which was similar to what occurred in Australia”, he said.
“We were already starting to see people not staying in Britain but going to Ireland and the number of people attempting to make that dangerous problem was reducing dramatically.
“We had a real solution to a real problem.”
Net migration was then brought into focus, with Ben pointing out how the number reached an eye-watering 685,000 last year, more than three times higher than the year of the 2017 election.
“Would you like to apologise on behalf of the Conservatives for their migration record?”, Ben asked.
“I’ve always been clear of a view that we need to be getting migration into this country into tens of thousands”, said Williamson.
Ben hit back: “You were in power for 14 years, why didn’t you do it?”
Williamson said the staggering rise was brought about by policy decisions by Boris Johnson, but Rishi Sunak’s actions were starting to see benefits.
Find Out More...