Labour MP Emma Reynolds faced a tough grilling from GB News presenter Ellie Costello over the government's migration strategy amid record Channel crossings.
The exchange came as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer visits Albania to announce an expanded crackdown on migrant smuggling gangs in the Balkans.
Ellie challenged Reynolds on whether Labour had already failed in its mission to "smash the gangs" with 12,000 people having crossed the Channel so far this year.
The presenter suggested 2025 could potentially see 50,000 people making the dangerous journey, putting Labour's border security policies under intense scrutiny.
Ellie challenged Reynolds on whether Labour had already failed in its mission to "smash the gangs"
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On GB News, she said: "Have you already failed, though, in that mission to smash the gangs?
"Because it looks as though it’s set to be a record-breaking year for people crossing the Channel. Twelve thousand people have already crossed so far this year. I mean, potentially, we’re looking at 50,000 people crossing in 2025."
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Reynolds responded: "Well, look, we’ve only been in power for nine months, but we’ve already set up the Border Security Command, which is a new agency to ensure we have the intelligence and the measures in place to crack down on those gangs.
"We’ve already had some successes in recent weeks, including with a Turkish gang that we were able to root out."
Reynolds added: "There’s still more to do. And as the Prime Minister set out on Monday, what people care about and what we’re hearing from them is that they don’t want uncontrolled immigration.
"Under the last government, we had net migration of nearly a million people. That is putting great pressure on communities and it is putting pressure on the bonds that hold us together as a society.
"So we are intent on doing something about it, as the Prime Minister set out in the Immigration White Paper and the plan for doing precisely that earlier this week."
Starmer is currently in Albania, marking the first official visit to the country by a UK prime minister, to tackle what he describes as the "revolving door" of migration.
The visit aims to reinforce the government's tough message about slashing both legal and illegal migration levels.
The visit aims to reinforce the government's tough message about slashing both legal and illegal migration levels.
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The Prime Minister's strategy relies heavily on "smashing the gangs" as the government's policy to tackle small boat crossings.
Working with Albanian officials is viewed as a success story in stopping migration at source, building on initiatives from the previous Conservative government.
In 2022, Albanian arrivals accounted for around a third of all small boat crossings. Those numbers have since been cut by 95 per cent over the past three years.
The prime minister will join Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at the Port of Durres to witness UK-backed efforts tackling smuggling gangs.
