Labour MP U-turns on migrant age numbers after Question Time boos
A cabinet minister was forced to issue a clarification after claiming that the majority of migrants crossing the Channel were 'children, babies and women'.
Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury, was booed by some members of the audience as he made the claim on Thursday night's episode of the BBC's Question Time.
Home Office figures show that 73 per cent of all migrants who have arrived on small boats since 2018 have been men aged 18 and above. A further 9 per cent were women, while 16 per cent were under-18 and the ages of the remaining 2 per cent were unknown.
The ratio of men was even higher for those crossing this year. Of the 6,642 migrants who arrived in the first three months of the year, 78 per cent (5,183) were men. Some 531 migrants were aged under 18, of whom 80 per cent were male.
Jones has since insisted that he was sharing the example of a specific dinghy that arrived while he was on a visit to Border Security Command. He said: 'Of course the overall majority of people arriving illegally on small boats are men — but not 'north of 90 per cent', as Reform claimed.
'On Question Time 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.'
However, the prime minister's spokesman earlier refused nine times to correct the record when asked at the daily Downing Street briefing on Friday. The spokesman said: 'Our focus is tackling these vile gangs that trade in human misery. We've seen additional funding committed at the spending review in order to support Border Security Command … The focus of the government is tackling the gangs.'
The spokesman confirmed that Jones retained the full confidence of the prime minister.
A member of the audience in Fleetwood, Lancashire, asked Jones whether asylum seekers should be allowed to live rent-free in hotels when 'working families' were 'struggling with substandard housing'. Jones responded: 'You're told never 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 that are coming across in the Channel with skin burns from the oil of those boats mixing with the salt and seawater, I would ask any of you to look at those babies and children and say, 'Go back to where you came from'.'
Zia Yusuf, head of Reform UK's anti-waste Doge unit, was also on the Question Time panel. In response to Jones, he said: 'I made the case that the government prioritises foreign citizens over citizens of the United Kingdom. After that testimony I rest my case. The vast majority of people making the journey from France by small boat are fighting-age, military age men. Male. They're not women and children.'
The Conservatives accused Jones of being 'completely out of touch with reality'. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: '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.'
Rupert Lowe, the independent MP for Great Yarmouth, who was suspended from Reform UK in March over allegations of bullying, has written an open letter calling for Jones to issue an 'urgent public correction'.
Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, called Jones 'another clueless Labour minister' and said his claims were 'simply not true'.
More than 1,000 migrants are estimated to have crossed the Channel on Friday as people smugglers took advantage of calmer conditions and warm weather. On Wednesday and Thursday 452 migrants arrived on small boats after ten days without crossings.
They will add to the 15,264 migrants who have arrived on small boats in 2025, a record for this point in the year and more than a third higher than this time last year. The most on a single day this year was recorded on May 31, when 1,195 people arrived in 19 boats.
Hundreds more migrants are expected to attempt the crossing on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, when weather and marine conditions are forecast to be good.
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