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Chris Philp tried to tear into Labour for their deportations of illegal migrants, only to end up praising it and taking credit for their success instead.
The government has removed hundreds of people who entered the country illegally since getting into power and organised three of the biggest returns flights in UK history.
In fact, Labour have returned significantly more illegal migrants than the Tories did when they were in power.
But, the Conservative shadow home secretary tried to claim the government had just done the “easy returns” during an interview with Times Radio this morning.
Presenter Kate McCann said to Philp: “So Labour has returned 19% more illegal migrants in the time they’ve been in office, compared to the same period in the year before than you did.
“Why are they managing to do something that you couldn’t do over 14 years?”
Philp claimed the Tories “returned huge numbers of people”, but McCann hit back: “Yes, but they’re returning more, aren’t they?”
He replied: “They are mostly, as far as I can see, they are returning many people to actually European countries rather than… and very few of the people they’re returning, as far as I can tell.
“I’ve actually got some formal questions on this, but very few of the people they’re returning, very few, actually cross the English Channel by small boats.”
McCann said: “So is not worth doing then?”
Philp said it is worth it, but claimed “they are going after the easy returns” rather than the people who come via the Channel.
“Isn’t that actually a much bigger question? You’re calling these easy returns and yet you didn’t do it,” she said.
“Well, I mean, we did. We returned, I think it was 23,000 people last year. That is a very, very large number. It had been on an increasing trajectory,” the former minister said. “And in fact, the work that’s happened in the last four months would have been…
“You can imagine it takes quite a long time to organise these returns in terms of the policy, the operations, the legal stuff.
“So the returns that have happened since July, the work to prepare for that would actually have been done by the last government.”
McCann replied: “So you’re claiming credit for it.”
“Well, a bit,” he replied. “As you can imagine, it takes time to organise the legalities of it, the logistics of the flights, the policy framework.
“All of that work that has led to this increase would have been done under the last government.
“So they are being a little bit cheeky.”
According to the Sunday Mirror, Labour have organised more than 25 bespoke returns flights have taken place since July 5.
That includes returning people to Albania, Poland, Romania and Vietnam, as well as the first ever chartered flight to Timor-Leste, and the largest ever returns flight to Nigeria and Ghana.
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