A Labour Minister has had to issue a clarification after claiming on Question Time that 90 percent of people arriving in the UK on small boats are women and children, as another 919 made the dangerous journey across the Channel on Friday.
Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, made the claim during Thursday’s programme before hastily ‘clarifying’ he was referring to one specific boat after the figure was widely debunked online.
The row came as Reform’s Zia Yusuf, who revealed an inner chaos to the party when he abruptly quit as chairman last week before returning two days later in a new role, also made false claims when he said ‘more than 90 percent’ are men.
Mr Jones provoked fury when he said that ‘the majority of the people in these boats are children, babies and women’.
Following cries of disbelief from members of the public, Mr Yusuf – who prevoiously said getting Reform elected was ‘not a good use of my time’ – interjected to say that ‘more than 90 per cent of them are adult men’, which is also incorrect.
Home Office figures show 73 percent percent of small boat arrivals in 2024 – or 26,999 out of all 36,816 arrivals – were adult males.
On Friday, another 919 people arrived in 14 small boats after making the dangerous crossing from France.
That takes the 2025 total to 16,183 – 42 per cent up on the same date last year, and 79 per cent up on 2023.
Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, prompted fury for claiming most small boat migrants were women and children
Following cries of disbelief from the audience, Reform’s Zia Yusuf interjected to say that ‘more than 90 per cent of them are adult men’
A young child is seen on a bus after arriving with his family on a small boat at Dover
The figure makes yesterday’s arrivals the second highest number so far this year.
On Question Time last night following Mr Yusuf’s intervention, host Fiona Bruce turned to Mr Jones and asked: ‘You’re saying that’s not true?’
He replied: ‘I’m saying it’s not true. I’m saying this is controversial for a reason and you’re told you’re not supposed to challenge the audience on Question Time, but I’m going to.
‘When there are babies and children put into that position by human trafficking gangs, who are coming across the Channel with skin burns from the oil from those boats mixing with the salt sea water, I would ask any of you to look at those babies and children and say ‘go back’.
Mr Yusuf hit back: ‘In my previous answer, I made the case that this Government prioritises foreign citizens over citizens of the United Kingdom. After that testimony, I can rest my case.
‘The vast, vast majority of people making the journey from France by small boat are fighting age, military age, males, not women and children.
‘We’re talking about asylum hotels, and Rachel Reeves saying we’re going to shut down asylum hotels.
‘I spent many weeks in the constituency of Runcorn and Helsby. Runcorn is a very deprived area. And do you know the issue that exercised people so much? The reason is primarily because of HMOs – houses of multiple occupancies.
‘In an unholy alliance of Serco and Yvette Cooper, illegal migrants are being deposited into communities and there’s no say for the local people.’
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) this evening, Mr Jones clarified his position but maintained the percentage of migrants that are adult males is ‘not north of 90 percent’.
French Police enter the water to try and stop migrants boarding small boats on Friday
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard the RNLI Ramsgate Lifeboat on Friday
The arrivals continued today, with pictures showing migrants being bussed away from Dover after being intercepted by a Border Force cutter
French police were seen using batons and teargas to disperse migrants on a beach in Gravelines this morning
An overloaded dinghy is pictured as it attempts to make the perilous journey cross the Channel from France
He wrote: ‘Of course the overall majority of people arriving illegally on small boats are men – but not ‘north of 90 percent’ as Reform claimed.
‘On @bbcquestiontime I shared a story from my visit to the Border Security Command about a dinghy that arrived mostly carrying women, children and babies who had suffered horrific burns.
‘I’m happy to clarify this given how this is now being misrepresented.
‘Labour committed new funding this week to secure our borders while Reform have voted against giving our police the powers needed to smash the gangs fuelling this vile trade.’
At her spending review on Wednesday, Rachel Reeves pledged that migrants would be moved out of hotel accommodation by the time of the next general election, due in 2029.
Ms Reeves also promised £1 billion of savings by speeding up the asylum system, along with £280 million investment in future years for the new Border Security Command.
Latest figures show £3.1 billion was spent on housing asylum seekers in hotels in 2023-24, out of a total asylum support bill of £4.7 billion.
More than 30,000 asylum seekers are housed in about 200 hotels across Britain, many of whom arrived illegally in dinghies, and ministers are looking at moving them into derelict tower blocks and student digs.
But despite Ms Reeves’ pledge to end the use of hotels, the Tories pointed out that the small print of her Spending Review documents revealed that £2.5 billion will still be spent each year on asylum support by the end of the decade.
It comes as dramatic pictures emerged of French police using tear gas and pepper spray to disperse hundreds of migrants trying to board boats headed for Britain.
Some officers were seen entering the water and dragging them back to shore.
A major point of contention between Britain and France has been the French authorities’ refusal to turn back migrants who are already in the water.
Despite officers’ efforts, a significant number of migrants were able to successfully cross this morning – with pictures showing them at Dover.
Some officers were seen entering the water and dragging them back to shore
A major point of contention between Britain and France has been the French authorities’ refusal to turn back migrants who are already in the water
A record five months of the year has brought the provisional arrivals today so far to 14,812 arrivals.
This has also surpassed the highest total recorded for the first six months of the year, which was previously 13,489 on June 30 last year.
In 2024, the number of arrivals did not reach more than 14,000 until July 9 (14,058).
The Government has vowed to crack down on people-smuggling and Channel crossings since coming to power in July last year.
This includes funding elite officers to increase patrols along the northern French coastline and launching a specialist intelligence unit in Dunkirk to track down people smugglers.
It has also established a Border Security Command to lead strategy and its Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, currently going through Parliament, seeks to introduce new criminal offences and hand counter terror-style powers to law enforcement agencies to target smuggling gangs.
However, critics have repeatedly warned the ‘smash the gangs’ strategy will not work unless there is a deterrent strong enough to prevent migrants from wanting to make the crossing in the first place.
Yesterday, a spokesman for the PM repeatedly refused to engaged with questions about whether Mr Jones was right.
‘The Government is absolutely focused on tackling these vile smuggling gangs… ‘ they said.
Asked again about Home Office figures suggesting he is wrong, the spokesman said: ‘The focus of the government is tackling these vile gangs that deal in misery.’
Pressed if the PM had confidence in Mr Jones, the spokesman said: ‘Yes.’
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Darren Jones is completely out of touch with reality.
‘Since 2018, 73 percent of small boat arrivals have been single adult men. Yet Labour MPs like Jones still push the fairytale that these boats are full of women and babies. It’s a dangerous distortion of the truth.
‘No wonder this is shaping up to be the worst year on record for small boat crossings. If this is what passes for reality inside the Labour Government, Britain is in serious trouble.’
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
‘The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die as long as they pay, and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.
‘That is why this Government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage, and why we are investing up to an additional £280 million per year by 2028-29 in the Border Security Command.
‘Through international intelligence-sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders.’
