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WATCH: Tory MP unleashes furious rant at 'excuses' from Labour
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Jun 3, 2025
Conservative MP Peter Bedford has launched a scathing attack on Labour's handling of the Channel migrant crisis - accusing the Government of making "excuses" rather than taking decisive action.The newly elected Conservative MP criticised Labour for scrapping the Rwanda deterrent scheme, which he claims has led to rising illegal boat crossings.READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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situation around the ongoing border chaos. It's all about the weather. Blame the weather. There's
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too much good weather. Watch this space. In a minute, they'll probably be blaming climate change
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We can't do anything about it. It's because of the weather. Well, there's always an excuse
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isn't there? I mean, clearly the last government made some mistakes in this area, and I was elected
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as a Conservative MP. I'm a new Conservative MP, so I want to bring some new ideas to the table
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That's why I'm signing up to Rupert Lowe's early day motion on this. There's always an excuse
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isn't there? The weather, legal loopholes, the French, what else? We've got to sort this
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problem out. People in this country want real action on this crisis. And it is a crisis
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And I'll be joined by Tony Smith in the next hour, the former Director General of the UK
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Border Force. He's got some very good ideas how we can sort this, which seems pretty easy
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Brings you back to the question, Peter Bedford, if it's not a case of there's a way, is there a
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will? Is there a will to clamp down? A lot of people are feeling the government are caught
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in the headlights with the Conservative Party. They were two parties on Brexit. A remain
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camp, a Brexit camp is the simple fact of the matter. Half of the Labour Party know they've
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got to do something about this or they are sunk. The Red Wall, the MPs there, they'll
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be done for. The other half actually probably welcome mass migration with open arms
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Sakhir Starmer, lest we forget, campaigned for mass movement of people. He campaigned to cancel Brexit for three years
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Is that the problem? The Labour Party is two parties on this issue
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Well, you know, clearly the government is divided on this. The last Conservative government tried to bring in a deterrent here
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the Rwanda Bill. One of the first things this government did was scrap that deterrent And that is why we seeing these illegal boat crossings rise week after week You know just at the weekend we saw over a thousand cross in a single day because there is no deterrent
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And that is why I'm working with independent MPs like Rupert Lowe, with the DUP, with fellow Conservative colleagues to ensure that we've got robust action on this
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because the British people are crying out for an end to this crisis. OK, so let's now focus on this motion that's been tabled, a mass deportation motion
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13 MPs have signed it, mostly Conservatives and a couple of Ulster Unionists
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Tell me, what's motivated you to sign Rupert Lowe's motion? Well, it's quite clear to me and to my constituents and indeed the public at large that this country has a problem with illegal migration
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We have people coming to the country that have no right to be here. They shouldn't even be allowed into British waters, let alone allowed to land and stay here
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So the British people are crying out for robust action and removing those that shouldn't even be here
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It shouldn't even be a contentious issue, should it? They shouldn't be here. They're illegal to be here
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Therefore, they should be removed. And that would be the ultimate deterrent to ensuring that we restore control over our borders once again
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And I'm just looking at some data on this now. It's funny because a lot of people think this is a fringe issue
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In actual fact, when you put it to the public, particularly around the deportation of foreign criminals
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there's a pretty big rump of support for this notion. It's about 85% of the electorate now are considering this as a notion
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Only a few months ago, perhaps, Mr Bedford, this would have been considered a bit spicy for many
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It would have been considered a bit far out there. Trump on steroids Do you think the public mood is shifting Yeah absolutely I mean this is common sense I been calling for this before I was an MP that we need more robust borders we need greater action
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I mean, I've asked in Parliament just recently, you know, the government need to keep all options on the table
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What we've seen over the last number of years is institutions, the Home Office clearly isn't fit for purpose
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The judiciary in this country are liberal and they try to frustrate any attempts by government
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to deport those that shouldn't be here. So we need fundamental reform. And that could be in the case in this situation of coming out of the ECHR or even legislating to remove ourselves from those international obligations on migration
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Everything needs to be on the table as we try and get a handle of this crisis. And let's face it, logistically, this would be a goliath of a policy
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Millions of people, millions and millions, not billions of pounds, you'd be all sorts of red tape
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as you said, the ECHL, the human rights lawyers, will be licking their lips
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So, and even Mr Lowe admits in this motion, there's very little chance of this being passed
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into legislation, certainly in the term of this government. But it's not just about that, is it
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It's about trying to send out a message, a message you believe that people have had enough
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Absolutely. You know, a lot of times in Parliament, we use these motions, like early-day motions
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or adjournment debates or Westminster Hall debates, to stimulate that debate, to get that public conversation going
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So by Rupert raising this in an early day motion, many of my Conservative colleagues
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a lot of new sound, proper Conservatives elected at last election, people like myself, Bradley Thomas, Lewis Cocking
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we are proper Conservatives. We want to deal with this issue because we accept the last government made many mistakes on but we want to see the government taking the action that is necessary And all options need to be on the table as we address that What would you say to the inevitable criticism Mr Bedford that this is racist this rounding
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up of millions of people and sending them back to where they came from feels very right
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wing, far right, no doubt they will throw that badge at you. Have you thought about that
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It's common sense. You know, it's quite easy in this day and age to band around the racism
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card, right? This is a matter of being legal and not illegal. The people that should not be here
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they haven't come through the legal routes, they haven't got a visa, they haven't got a right to be
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here, shouldn't be here. At the end of the day, this is about upholding the rule of law. It isn't
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about race, it isn't about colour, it isn't about background, it's about what's legal and what isn't
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legal. And that's the approach I take. Peter Bedford, is there something going on here within
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the Conservative ranks? Quite clearly, as I alluded to before, two Conservative parties, certainly on
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Brexit. And yourself and the Conservative colleagues who've signed up to this motion are clearly moving
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towards that rump, moving down towards a Rupert Lowe position. Might this get you in trouble with
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Kemi Badenow? This is certainly not Conservative policy. Look, I was elected by the residents of
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Mid-Leicestershire and I was elected to represent them in Parliament. So my primary loyalty is the
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residents of Mid-Leicestershire. As you know, the Conservative Party is currently going through a
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policy review phase. So we're looking at all options on policy review. And it's for people
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like me as a backbench Conservative MP and my colleagues to make the case for what policy we
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believe the Conservative Party and the opposition should be adopting going forward. Now, I've clearly
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articulated my view today on your show quite clearly where I want the policy to go. And it's
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my job as a backbencher to persuade colleagues in my own party to adopt that position
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