Esther McVey was embroiled in a tense debate with Labour’s Annaliese Dodds after a fiery PMQs session.
Speaking on GB News, Labour Party Chair Anneliese Dodds grilled McVey over the Government’s bid to stop small boat crossings.
She said measures introduced by the Government “obviously aren’t working” in a scathing assessment.
Rishi Sunak faces fresh scrutiny over his flagship Rwanda plan, with the bill set to return to the Commons.
Esther McVey and Anneliese Dodds clashed over the Government's flagship Rwanda policy
GB NEWS
Dodds branded the plan a “gimmick” as she demanded answers as to why the Government has not adopted Labour’s suggestions.
“This obviously isn’t working”, she said.
“£400m of taxpayer money has been put into this, why isn’t the Government doing what Labour has called for?
“Convictions for criminal people smugglers has gone down by 30 per cent.
“Labour said, we need a cross-border elite police force unit focused on these criminals so we get these convictions up and we have some accountability and justice against these people.”
It came after a question from GB News viewer Ryan, who asked how Labour could solve the migrant crisis.
Rishi Sunak is under pressure to deal with the migrant crisis
GB NewsMcVey defended Sunak’s Rwanda bill, saying there is no “simple silver bullet”.
“We are trying in every way to close everything down”, she said.
“You will see the number of boats has gone down by 30 per cent. You will see the number of Albanians being sent back.
“What we don’t need is an opposition who talk about being strict on illegal immigration, yet has done everything to oppose what this Government is doing.
“We don’t want more safe routes and more legal ways of doing it, we have to say, ‘this is illegal, we do not accept it and be as firm as we can in the law’.”
It came after a feisty PMQs where Starmer and Sunak clashed over the Rwanda plan.
The Labour leader accused the Prime Minister of not believing in the Rwanda “gimmick” and highlighted reports that Sunak had reservations about the policy before taking on his current role.
He went on to claim Sunak’s Government is “blissfully uninterested” in what is happening in the country beyond Westminster.
Sunak countered by saying Sir Keir has “no plan” for the country, adding: “Stick with us to deliver the long-term change that the country needs – don’t go back to square one with him.”