The deputy leader of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has sparked outrage after saying Britain should ‘absolutely’ let migrants drown in the English Channel.
Ben Habib, the party’s Wellingborough parliamentary candidate, said asylum seekers attempting to reach Britain in small boats should “suffer the consequences” in a widely criticised interview on Wednesday.
Just a day after a seven-year-old girl was among five migrants who died after being crushed on an overcrowded boat during an attempt to cross the English Channel, Mr Habib was questioned about the small boats issue by TalkTV’s Julia Hartley-Brewer.
“Let’s not infantilise these people, they have free will,” Mr Habib said. “I’m not going to be held to ransom by their claim that they deserve protection as soon as they get into our territorial waters.
“If they choose to scupper that dinghy, then yes, they have to suffer the consequences of their actions.”
Ms Hartley-Brewer asked: “Then you would leave them to drown?”
“Absolutely,” he replied. “They cannot be infantalised to the point that we become hostage to fortune.”
Responding to his comments, Ms Hartley-Brewer said: “I have no doubt, Ben, that is a policy that would work quite well, however that is not a policy that a civilised country should endorse.”
In response, Mr Habib asked: “Why is that uncivilised Julia?”
Mr Habib’s remarks have been condemned on social media.
Author Michael Volpe OBE wrote on X: “As I constantly point out – these people are prepared to do anything. Are capable of anything if they were able. Reform, Braverman et al. We have to understand what we are dealing with and that history would quickly repeat itself. Savagery is their instinct.
And Byline News co-founder Peter Jukes tweeted: “When Katy Hopkins said the same thing about shooting refugees out of the water, she was sacked from her column at the Sun. Politics has so degraded by the point six years on, it can be the policy of party and one of its leaders. That’s how far we’ve sunk.”
A Reform spokesman said: “Our policy is clear and simple: pick up and safely take back to France. Ben was having a conceptual debate about the theory of defending borders. Our policy will stop the boats and save lives”.
Reform uk was set up as the Brexit Party by Mr Farage, who has since stepped down as its leader. It is currently in third place in the polls, enjoying more support than the Liberal Democrats and commanding 12 per cent of the vote.
The interview came after Mr Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill finally cleared parliament, with the prime minister promising to send asylum seekers to the east African nation in 10-12 weeks.
The bill is a key plank of the PM’s promise to “stop the boats”, which he has so far failed at, with crossings at a record high so far this year.
