'What deterrent?!' Labour minister grilled on migrant crisis as he admits there is 'no silver bullet' to stop small boat crossings

The Home Secretary has been urged to end the use of migrant hotels through a "one-off scheme", proposed by the Refugee Council.

The proposal claims that the Labour Government could allow asylum seekers from five nations, including Syria and Afghanistan, to be taken out of migrant hotels and temporarily given visas to stay in the UK.

Asked by host Ellie Costello about the proposed scheme, Mr Morgan told GB News: "We inherited an asylum system in chaos, and it's absolutely vital that we get this right. We've obviously got serious plans in place as a Government, and I sense people's frustrations across the country.

"I'm frustrated myself, but the focus for us is on the deterrent, on removals and preventing crossing, and we've made some good progress there."

Highlighting Labour's commitment to closing migrant hotels, Mr Morgan added: "We're committed to ending asylum hotels by the end of this parliament, they're up at 400, they're now down to 200.

"We've removed 35,000 people that have no right to remain in the country and also processing decisions much faster, up 28 per cent. So we are taking action, because this is a serious issue that requires us to restore order to the asylum system and bring fairness to the system as well."

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Stephen then interjected, pressing the Labour minister: "You said one of the focuses you're seriously looking at is a deterrent. What deterrent?"

Mr Morgan responded: "Well, the deterrent that we announced recently with our partnership with France, the one in, one out pilot that we are doing, I think will make a real difference, and we're really keen to learn from that pilot, but it's at early days obviously.

"But it's also about working with other nations around the source of origin of those coming to the country, so a range of actions. There is no silver bullet here, but I know the Home Office are leading the way in getting this right, listening to people's concerns and taking appropriate action."

Circling back to her original question about the Refugee Council's proposal, Ellie asked Mr Morgan for a "clear answer" on whether the Home Secretary would consider it as a "serious option".

Mr Morgan said: "I've not seen the detail of the plan, it's not obviously coming to me as an early education minister.

"But I no doubt expect that the Home Secretary looks at all ideas because there is no silver bullet here."

He concluded: "But we've got a real clear plan around focusing on the deterrent on removals and preventing crossings, and that's our priority as a Government."