The Home Secretary has branded a Glastonbury festival stunt which has been credited to Banksy "vile".
James Cleverly said the artist was “celebrating the loss of life in the Channel” after a lifesize inflatable raft holding dummies of migrants was passed around the crowd during Idles’ show on the Other Stage.
The boat was lifted above the heads of the thousands of revellers during the set on Friday night. "There are a bunch of people there joking and celebrating about criminal actions which costs lives, people die,” Mr Cleverly told Sky News.
“People die in the Mediterranean, they die in the Channel. This is not funny. It is vile.
“It is a celebration of the loss of life in the channel."
Asked if the boat could have been a commentary on the Conservative Government’s failure to stop people making the perilous journey across the Channel, he added: "Our ability to sort that problem out has been hampered every stage by the Labour Party who aspire to border control.
"They know that had they supported us, they voted over 130 times to prevent us taking greater control of our borders, the hypocrisy of the left on this issue is breathtaking and to joke about it, to celebrate it at a pop festival when there have been children dying in the channel is completely unacceptable."
Over 2,000 arrivals have been recorded since the general election was called on May 22 and immigration has become a key campaign battleground.
More than 82,000 people have made the journey across the Channel since the government struck the stalled deal to send migrants to Rwanda in April 2022.
Banksy has appeared to confirm he was behind a stunt during the British punk band's headline set when he posted a clip of the boat to his 12.6million followers on Instagram - his usual way of announcing a new work.
A spokesman for Idles said the band were not aware of the stunt until after the gig had finished.
