A deputy leader of Reform UK has proposed not rescuing people in the Channel if they scupper their small boats and refuse new dinghies as they should “suffer the consequences of their actions”.
Ben Habib made the comments in an interview on TalkTV when asked how he proposed to prevent people setting off from France in small boats from reaching the UK.
Reform, which is polling 12-13% and has overtaken the Lib Dems, has an official policy to “pick up migrants out of boats and take them back to France”.
More than 400 people arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in small boats on Tuesday, on the same day that five people, including a child, died while attempting the crossing.
Rishi Sunak said the “tragic” deaths showed why it was necessary to have passed his legislation on Monday night, aimed at sending asylum seekers who cross the Channel to Rwanda.
However, Habib told TalkTV that the navy or Border Force should not rescue people who threw themselves into the sea if they had refused alternative vessels.
The Reform politician said the UK should “use force” to repel migrants in boats and could provide them with another dinghy if they jumped into the water.
“If they choose to scupper that dinghy, then yes, they have to suffer the consequences of their actions,” he said.
Asked by the interviewer, Julia Hartley-Brewer, whether that meant he would leave them to drown, he said: “Absolutely. They cannot be infantilised to the point that we become a hostage to fortune.”
Habib questioned why that was “uncivilised” as Hartley-Brewer expressed incredulity and said it was not a policy that a civilised country should endorse, saying there was no one in the “Border Force or the Royal Navy would do that”.
“I’m afraid Border Force means using force at the border,” he said. “If we are not prepared to use force at the border then we will have open borders … Border control is a physical process, it’s not a legal one.
“We’ve been hijacked … You could have five dinghies or give them a boat which they can’t slash again, or you give them lifesavers and tell them to swim back. You could have any number of options to deal with the problem.
“What you don’t do is give in to the blackmail effectively of: we are here and we’re going to self-harm ourselves unless you take us to British shores. You don’t give in to that.”
Asked whether the Reform UK party leader, Richard Tice, shared Habib’s views as expressed on TalkTV about not rescuing migrants in some circumstances, a spokesperson for the party said: “Don’t be ridiculous. 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 our borders. Our policy will stop the boats and save lives.”
