A fiery exchange on this morning saw presenter and Labour’s clash over the controversial issue of how to handle migrants crossing the Channel.
The discussion escalated when Julia’s comments about returning migrants to France sparked criticism from her guest.
Hartley-Brewer argued for a direct return policy: “Personally, if it were me, I’d pick them up in the Channel, and I’d just take them back to French waters.” This prompted Falconer to counter: “But the French won’t have them.”
Undeterred, Hartley-Brewer replied: “Well, the thing is, the French don’t have to accept them. Just kind of, take them back, here you go.”
Confused by her thought process, Falconer asked: “But then what happens to them?”, Hartley-Brewer bluntly responded, “Not my problem.”
Read more…
Julia Hartley-Brewer was criticised by a Labour politician on TalkTV this morning (Image: TalkTV)
The former Lord Chancellor looked taken aback, questioning the practicality of Julia’s stance, asking: “Don’t you need to think these things through a little bit more?”
Hartley-Brewer defended her position, claiming, “I have thought it through. I don’t want them in the UK. I’m thinking, if you didn’t actually get to stay in the UK, you wouldn’t bother coming. I think that would be a really clear signal. It worked in Australia, if we had a similar sort of policy it would work here.”
However, Falconer quickly pointed out the potential deadly consequences of her plan, responding: “I thought you weren’t in favour of drowning.”
An indignant Hartley-Brewer said, “When have I mentioned drowning people? I’ve not said just leave them. We have all these ships in the middle of the Channel, we pick them up, and then we bring them to the UK.
Don’t miss…
Lord Falconer criticised the presenter for her “unthought out” ideas (Image: TalkTV)
“The boats are only meant to last halfway so they can get picked up by the British navy or the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution). What we do is we pick them up, and we take them straight back to France. If the French don’t like it, they can engage with our warships if that’s what they want to do. I don’t think they will.”
Falconer’s rebuttal was swift and scathing. “I have to say, Julia, I think that is about as unthought-out a policy as I’ve heard in a long time,” he said.
However, TalkTV fans quickly agreed with Julia’s argument, with one querying: “Hold on. The French won’t accept them? Well why are we accepting them? Why is that not our stance? We do not accept them.”
Another chimed in, asking: “We don’t agree to take them. So why should we care that France don’t agree to have them back?”