Richard Tice calls GB News’s Steven Edginton ‘obsessed’ as he faces grilling over mass deportations

Tice explained: "The reality is, if you're illegal, then you haven't got a right to stay in the United Kingdom, so people should be removed.

"And I think most people accept that if you come here illegally, if you haven't been granted asylum, then you can't stay here."

Criticising the "state" of Home Office operations in deporting illegal migrants, Tice told GB News: "We don't know how many people are here illegally because of the state of the Home Office, our immigration systems, our border control processes, or lack of them.

"But at the end of the day, where we should start, actually, and I've raised this in the House of Commons is we've got give or take, 10,000 foreign nationals clogging up our prisons. So I've said to the Justice Secretary, for heaven's sake, let's clear out some space in the prisons, remove those people, return them to their country of origin. And people who are here illegally can't stay, it's as simple as that."

Pressing Tice again on deportations, Steven asked: "So should every single illegal immigrant in Britain be deported? Would Reform do that if you're in Government?"

Tice responded: "We would. Our view is that you can't be here illegally, so you've got to go through a removal process, but don't be juvenile and assume you can do that overnight or in the space of a month, you can't. And you've got to be grown up about this."

Interjecting Tice, Steven quizzed the Reform MP: "Why is it juvenile to ask whether you want to deport all illegal migrants?"

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Tice hit back: "I've just said we should remove people who are here illegally, but there's a there's an underlying tone in your question, which is you must do it tomorrow. There is an underlying tone in the way you're asking this question, you've got to deport people immediately."

Steven disagreed, explaining: "The reason I'm asking the question is because I asked Nigel Farage last year the same question, and he said, no, it's not Reform's ambition to deport every single illegal immigrant in Britain, he said it would be politically impossible."

Expressing his frustration, Tice stated: "Steven, you're obsessed with this. And frankly, I do think that we need to have a sensible way of discussing it. You're obsessed with it."

Cutting in on Tice's response, Steven reiterated: "I didn't get clarity, that's the reason I'm asking."

Tice hit back again, arguing: "You've has complete clarity, right? Which is you can't do everything. I think you're coming at this from a point of view, you've got to deport everybody next week. You can't do that. Be grown up about it.

"We don't know who they are, we don't know where they are. But the principal is, people can't remain here illegally forever."

Discussing Farage's stance on deportations, Steven pressed again: "That is why I asked Nigel Farage, is it your ambition to deport all these people and he said no, and that's a principle, we will not deport all illegal migrants.

"And as a government, you have to make a decision. Are we going to try and deport everyone who's here illegally or will we give some of them amnesty? There's no sort of middle ground."

Tice concluded: "Stephen, we're not in government, but if we are in government, then our position will be people cannot expect to be here illegally and stay here illegally forever. But I repeat the point, it will not be easy finding everybody, and I'm quite sure that's a reasonable position that anybody would would respect."