A heated debate erupted on GB News over the burning of migrant effigies at a Northern Ireland bonfire, with commentator Matthew Stadlen condemning the act as "sick" and "pure bigotry and nastiness".
The row centred on an incident in Moygashel, County Tyrone, where life-sized mannequins wearing life jackets were placed in a model boat atop a traditional July 12 bonfire.
Speaking on GB News, Stadlen said: "This was just pure bigotry and nastiness. You can have strong views about people coming to this country illegally, lots of people do.
"It is the Government's policy to try to stop those boats; that’s what they've been trying to do, successfully or not. We'll have to wait and see with Macron this week. But to burn an effigy of people in a boat I mean, it's sick."
A heated debate erupted on GB News over the burning of migrant effigies at a Northern Ireland bonfire,
GB NEWS
GB News host Martin Daubney responded: "A lot of people stood up for Kneecap, who of course are going through a political trial, and they weren't at all offended by that. Supporting Hezbollah. Can you not accept it’s just a bonfire?
"People have been burning effigies of Donald Trump, of Boris Johnson, of Nigel Farage, nobody batted an eyelid at that."
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Stadlen replied: "Of course, there are questions around whether the law of the land has been broken in each case we might discuss. But whether it's criminal or not, you should not be burning effigies of other human beings.
"Look, there is anger about the number of people who come to this country illegally. Many of them are genuine asylum seekers some are not. People want things to be done fairly. People, including myself, want us to have borders that actually work. It's been a huge advantage to us over the centuries that we are an island. In this case, it’s not proving to be such an advantage.
"Although I can tell you, if you're in Europe with land borders, it's certainly no easier. The Government is committed to trying to sort this out. The fact that they haven’t yet, in my view, shows how difficult it is.
"You’d like us to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. I'm afraid I don’t agree with you on that because I think they’re still important."
Martin said: "Locals in both parts of Ireland have been telling GB News, telling their own media, telling the political class for many, many months that they don't feel safe because of uncontrolled immigration. And when they complain, they’re called racists.
"I put it to you, Matthew: this bonfire we can see before us now is totemic of a community that feels completely abandoned and they want to be heard. You might disagree with their mode, but we’re talking about it.
"We’ve already heard people from that community call it out. The first thing to say, and I think this is really key, is that working-class communities do not speak with one voice. You get all sorts of different political views from within. But their voices are silenced by the media in Ireland. They come to GB News because we're one of the few outlets that gives them a fair crack of the whip. People should be given a voice."
Stadlen fired back: "Of course they should. And people from working-class communities should be given just as big a voice as people from middle-class communities. I suppose I’m from a middle-class community, my voice is no more valuable than someone who comes from a working-class community.
The structure, built from more than 50 wooden pallets, was set alight on Thursday night as part of traditional July 12th commemorations
PA
"I mix with working-class people, middle-class people, some upper-class people.
He added: "The police are here to keep all of us safe. They're here to keep your family safe."
Martin replied: "My family safe? They’re not keeping a lot of women and children safe in these precise communities, as we’ve seen. People are vulnerable. There have been sexual assaults and rape allegations and the police have simply been looking the other way."
The structure, built from more than 50 wooden pallets, was set alight on Thursday night as part of traditional July 12 commemorations marking William of Orange's victory over Catholic King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
A large crowd gathered to watch, with many filming on their phones as the bonfire burned. A pipe band played music and fireworks were lit before the pyre was ignited at nightfall. Police confirmed they are investigating the display as a hate incident.