Justice minister Jake Richards faced tough questioning from Fiona Bruce on BBC Question Time last night over the small boats crisis, but repeatedly failed to give a direct answer, prompting groans and sighs from the audience.
The panel included Labour's Jake Richards, Conservative shadow Scottish secretary Harriet Cross, Liberal Democrat Max Wilkinson, Daily Mirror associate editor Kevin Maguire, and Telegraph senior political commentator Annabel Denham.
Question Time Grilling
Fiona Bruce asked Richards: "When it comes to small boats do you feel as a government you'll ever be able to stop them completely?"
Richards swerved the question several times, replying: "Illegal migration has been happening in this country for hundreds of years."
Bruce interjected: "Sure, but I'm asking about the small boats particularly."
Richards added: "I'm not going to do what Rishi Sunak did and stand up and say 'I'm going to stop the boats tomorrow' and then you know you guys will rightly laugh that off frankly."
Audience Reaction
Bruce asked for a second time: "So that's not something that as a government you think is realistic to commit to?"
Richards replied: "The small boats and the scenes that we see across our channel is an absolute disgrace."
Bruce interjected: "No, that's a given. I'm asking a different question."
Richards said: "Let me answer the question." Bruce responded: "Well you're not actually, it's sort of a yes or no." She then turned to the audience asking: "Am I getting an answer?"
Richards said: "Let me see if you take the answer, we've got a massive problem, we've got to confront it by offering a bigger deterrent, we've got to invest in our border security and we've also got to offer a safe and fair system for those who are actually coming here to contribute who are fleeing persecution."
Bruce swiftly moved on by saying: "Ok, you've made this point, but I notice you haven't answered the question."
Next Week's Show
BBC Question Time returns next week in Brecon.
