Science Secretary Peter Kyle defended Labour’s approach to tackling Channel crossings during a robust GB News interview, insisting the Government is working to strengthen cooperation with France and reform the asylum system.
Speaking to GB News Breakfast, Kyle was challenged over whether money being paid to France to help prevent small boat crossings could be better used to ease pressure on households during the cost of living crisis.
The Labour minister said the existing arrangement with France had already had an impact, but acknowledged more still needed to be done.
He said: “The deal that was struck with the French has stopped 42,000 people making that crossing.”
Host Mark White pushed back on that claim, arguing that many of those counted in the figure had not been stopped from leaving beaches, but were instead picked up later in French waters after boats got into difficulty.
Kyle stood by the wider argument for continued cooperation with France, saying the current extension was being used to negotiate a better agreement.
He said: “The investment that we’ve made in the deal we have done has prevented people crossing the Channel. But is there more to do? Yes, there is.
“That’s why, at this moment in time, Shabana Mahmood is negotiating and engaged in discussions with the French to improve the deal.”
Kyle said the Government was pursuing what he described as a whole-system approach, combining talks with France and other countries with changes to the asylum system inside the UK.
He said: “You’ll see Shabana do fundamental reforms of the asylum system. She’s tackling down on any incentives there might be to come to Britain compared to other countries.
“She’s working with the French, of course, and other countries, because these people who are crossing the Channel are doing so from other countries, and therefore engaging in those countries and making sure that we can tackle the challenge at root is very, very important.”
The minister added that the temporary extension of the current programme was intended to create time for a stronger arrangement with France.
He said: “We’ve extended the programme by two months and we’re using that period to negotiate a better deal.
“Shabana Mahmood, our Home Secretary, is out there fighting for Britain, fighting for a better system of asylum, making sure that deterrents are in the system, but also that it is a functional system that has humanity at it.”
Kyle said there was an urgent need to stop people smugglers exploiting vulnerable migrants and putting lives at risk.
He said: “We know we have to stop the trafficking of people, because people making that journey are putting their lives at risk and often putting children’s lives at risk, and we need to stop this horrid business.”
Pressed again by White on why Britain should be paying France to carry out what he described as its own sovereign responsibilities, Kyle said the crisis had to be tackled as a shared cross-border problem.
He said: “We are partnering with the French in order to stop a horrific situation which has impacted Britain. This is a shared challenge between France and Britain, because the challenge makes its way across the waters.
“And of course, because of the previous administration, the Tories, we have tens of thousands of people being housed in hotels, which we are trying to end. So this is a shared challenge and we need to share the burden of it.”
Kyle said ministers wanted to ensure taxpayer money was being used effectively and insisted the Home Secretary was pushing for tougher and more effective action from the French.
He said: “We need to make sure that British taxpayers’ money is spent wisely. That is why Shabana Mahmood is out there negotiating for increased activity with the French, more effective activity with the French, so that we can get a grip on a situation that got out of control under the previous Tory administration.
“She is acting with boldness and she is acting with urgency in order to get a grip on a situation that failed under the previous administration, and we are determined to end it.”
