A row has erupted after a senior minister said the majority of people crossing the English Channel in small boats he had seen were “children, babies and women”.
Treasury minister Darren Jones and Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf clashed on the BBC’s Question Time over the age and sex of people making the journey.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called on Jones to apologise for saying something that was not true.
But the minister later said he had been referring to what he had seen on a recent visit to Border Security Command in Dover.
He added: “Of course the overall majority of people arriving illegally on small boats are men – but not ‘north of 90%’ as Reform claimed.”
In the first three months of 2025, there were 6,420 small boat arrivals where the age and sex of the person was recorded, according to Home Office figures.
Of these, 81% (5,183) were adult men.
In the same period, of the 531 child arrivals (aged 17 and under), 427 of them were male and 104 female. There is no further age breakdown, so we don’t know how many babies were amongst them.
In the whole of 2024, 76% of small boat arrivals, where the sex and age are known, were adult male.
In the Question Time exchange on Thursday, Jones said: “Let me tell you, when you’re there on the site, seeing these dinghies put together by these organised criminal gangs, which are clearly not safe.
“And when you see that the majority of the people in these boats are children, babies and women… you have got to take note.”
At this point in the debate, Jones was interrupted by Yusuf, who claimed more than 90% of those who cross the Channel in small boats are adult men.
“That’s not true,” Jones said.
Yusuf and BBC presenter Fiona Bruce asked Jones to clarify if he disputed the 90% figure.
“I’m saying it’s not true,” Jones said.
He then added: “When there are babies and children put into that position by human trafficking gangs who are coming across the Channel with skin burns from the oil in those boats, mixing with the salt sea water, I would ask any of you to look at those babies and children and say go back where you came from.”
He said the government could take a “humanitarian response” whilst tackling people-smuggling gangs without politicising the issue.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for Jones to apologise, saying: “We’re not going to have any trust in the government or politicians if people can’t believe what it is they are saying.
“So I think Darren Jones should absolutely retract his remarks and apologise.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage argued what Jones had said was “simply not true”.
“Another clueless Labour minister,” Farage posted on social media.
Jones hit back in a post on X, saying: “Of course the overall majority of people arriving illegally on small boats are men – but not ‘north of 90%’ 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”.
Additional reporting: Joshua Nevett
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