TalkTV presenter Mike Graham clashed with chief political commentator John Rentoul after he said the illegal migrants were being detained “somewhere”. This comes after it was reported that the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was accused of gaslighting the public over the new return scheme. The Home Office has also said that individuals detained after arriving in small boats are expected to be returned within three weeks. However, when John was quizzed by Mike about where the migrants were being detained, Graham argued: “Why don’t we know where they’re being detained?”
John replied: “There’s no need for that information. You don’t want to get demonstrators outside!” Mike interrupted: “Oh, so they’re worried about demonstrators?”
John then said, “I don’t know.” And then Mike ranted, “So, this is the point. I don’t know. You don’t know. Nobody knows because this Government is becoming more and more secretive with every passing week.”
In response, John said: “That is absolute nonsense, Mike. You’re just diving down the nearest rabbit hole.” Mike then furiously argued: “You’ve been told by the Government that they’re being detained. Have you got no critical faculty left, John?”
He added: “If I want to see somebody being detained, I want to see them locked into a room with bars on it. That’s detention to me. But when you’re sitting in a room with coffee and doughnuts, that’s not being detained.”
Many viewers flocked to the comments section to express their opinions on the debate. One person commented, “Presumably because they’re being ‘detained’ in a four-star hotel somewhere.”
Another also chimed in: “By trying to ‘stop the boats’ and sending people back (whether it happens or not) Starmer is actually confirming that he KNOWS they are not genuine asylum seekers. So why are we entertaining their asylum applications?..”
A third also commented: “Unless we see actual evidence of these men inside detention facilities and subsequent deportations there is no evidence of anything.”
