Nigel Farage's newly announced crackdown on illegal migration has sparked a fiery GB News row, as former Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker declared the policy "disgusting".
Hitting back at Mr Baker, commentator Clare Muldoon argued that the Reform UK leader is "listening to the people" after a year of "Labour atrocity".
Detailing his party's plan to tackle the migrant crisis yesterday, Mr Farage stated: "We will, for a five-year period, disapply the 1951 Refugee Convention and any other barriers that can be used by lawyers in this country to prevent deportations, to prevent the right thing from happening.
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Clare Muldoon and Norman Baker clashed over Nigel Farage's migrant crisis crackdown
|GB NEWS
"Women and children, everybody on arrival will be detained, and I've accepted already that how we deal with children is a much more complicated and difficult issue."
Discussing the policy on GB News, Mr Baker stated: "I think it's rabble rousing, and I think it's very unfortunate we've crossed the line. There is a serious issue about how migration is treated in this country, but this sort of response from Nigel Farage is frankly disgusting.
"It whips up people to have a fear and hatred of people who are in many cases vulnerable and have come here having escaped lives and be subject to torture.
"We need to treat people with dignity in this country, no matter who they are, and we can talk about what we can do about migration, but not this way."
Citing Brexit as a factor for the surge in illegal migration, Mr Baker added: "Let's not take lessons from Nigel Farage. The year before Brexit, nine people arrived in this country on small boats.
"What's happened with Brexit is we've lost the ability to return people to other European countries, and we were told by Brexit we're going to shut our borders down, the opposite has happened and people are flooding into this country."
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| PAIn complete disagreement with Mr Baker, Ms Muldoon argued that the influx of migrants has "nothing to do with Brexit".
Ms Muldoon explained: "They're coming here illegally, and it's got nothing to do with Brexit. Look what's happening with the impact of non-Brexit in Italy, Germany and France.
"They've still got the European Union and it's still affecting them too, so do not bring Brexit into this.
"And whilst I think this is a very ugly optic, deportation departures, you can sling anything at Nigel Farage, but what he is doing is opening up the conversation and he's listening.
"He's listening to the electorate, and he's listening to the voters in this country that have been not listened to for a myriad of years, 14 years of Conservative Government, one year of this atrocity that we have now under Starmer and now this."
Delivering her verdict on Reform's approach to tackling the crisis, Ms Muldoon told GB News: "I think we all need reform in this country with a small R, but what Nigel Farage and Richard Tice and the rest of them in Reform is doing is playing to the masses.
The GB News panel clashed over Nigel Farage's plan to tackle immigration
|GB NEWS
As Mr Baker interjected and claimed Reform are instead "whipping people up", Ms Muldoon stated: "They are playing to the narrative - maybe they are whipping them up, but people are feeling that way. Don't patronise, Norman.
"And what is happening is the fact that they are adopting now, things that they could do. And they've looked to Trump, they've looked to the West, they've looked to the US and thought, okay, maybe I can do this.
"But if he will open up negotiation with the Taliban in Afghanistan, then that's great. Give them back, take them back."
Astounded by Ms Muldoon's remarks, Mr Baker asked: "Do you know what'll happen if people get sent back to Afghanistan and Iran? They will be tortured, they'll be killed. The women there will be subject to imprisonment."
Ms Muldoon snapped back: "The men should be there fighting for the women and children there, they shouldn't be leaving them to come here."