Minister Accuses Top Tory Of Hypocrisy Over Migrant Deal Criticism In Scathing Takedown

Minister Angela Eagle and Tory MP Chris PhilpHome Office minister Angela Eagle ripped Tory frontbencher Chris Philp a new one today after he tore into the government’s new migrant scheme.Labour has just launched a new agreement whereby the government can send any migrant who arrives on British shores via small boat crossings back to France in exchange for an asylum seeker with a familial link to the UK.But the Tories claim it is “completely unworkable”, because all legal challenges to the deportation have be settled in the UK before an asylum seeker can be sent back across the English Channel.Philp, the shadow home secretary, said it would be “ruthlessly exploited by human rights lawyers to prevent people being returned to France”.He then released a social media video of himself just “seven or eight miles off Calais” to see if the deal is working.The Tory MP claimed he could see the French were “making absolutely no attempt whatsoever” to stop a migrant boat which looked like it was heading towards the UK. “Quite clearly the government’s claim to be fixing this with their new deal is not working – the evidence is right behind me, on the English Channel.”Eagle – who is the minister for border security and asylum – then posted a lengthy response, accusing Philp of being “desperate” for the pilot scheme to fail.She said: “Setting the bar at whether it would lead to the instant cessation of all small boat crossings seems a bit low, even for you. And also a little hypocritical.”She said that the treaty to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda was signed on April 13, 2022 – but 651 people still crossed the Channel that day.Eagle then noted how Suella Braverman’s Illegal Migration Act became law on July 20, 2023, but more than 10,000 people crossed the Channel over August and September that year.More than 3,700 people also arrived in small boats between April and May 2024 after James Cleverly’s Safety of Rwanda Act became law.Eagle said: “It will take time, and it will be hard, but as we get it up and running, it will make an important contribution to the all-out assault we are waging against the business model of the smuggling gangs, which was allowed to flourish and grow for six years while your government was in change.”She added: “That is the difference between having a serious and comprehensive plan to fix this crisis and just standing in a boat pointing at it. I hope you’re getting a nice tan though.”https://t.co/hmQUISyqjvpic.twitter.com/T9hDqst4wx— Angela Eagle DBE (@angelaeagle) August 6, 2025Philp soon replied: “You know Rwanda never started – because the Labour govt cancelled it just days before it was due to commence. In 2023 (our last full year) we got crossings down by 30%. This year they are up over 50% and it’s the worst year *ever*. You can’t blame anyone else for that.”This year is a new record for English Channel crossings, with more than 25,000 occurring so far this year.Ministers have previously blamed that increase on clear weather and the willingness of people smugglers to put more people on boats.The government is now promising that the new deal will help deliver on its pledge to “smash the people-smuggling gangs” and deter migrants from coming to the UK.However, home secretary Yvette Cooper has refused to say how many returns were likely to be made, especially as the scheme is still in a trial phase.She told BBC Breakfast: “The numbers will start lower and then build.”Related...Darren Jones Admits He Was Wrong To Say Most Migrants On Small Boats Are 'Children, Babies And Women'Starmer Says Illegal Migration 'Unfair' On Working People And MigrantsMinister Delivers Brutal Four-Word Answer To Tory MP's Question About Migrants

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