GB News host Penny Smith launched a scathing attack on Conservative MP Matt Vickers during a heated grilling over Britain’s border crisis, as new figures show migrant crossings have surged this year.

Mr Vickers outlined the Tory party’s proposals to tackle illegal immigration, including deportation legislation and limits on foreign nationals claiming benefits.

He insisted the Conservatives had developed comprehensive plans to regain control of Britain’s borders.

Speaking on The People’s Channel, the Tory minister said: “This is going further than anybody thought. Often, you know, it’s just a tweet or a press conference from Nigel Farage, but what we need are firm plans.

“You can’t do these things on the back of a fag packet. The reality is we’ve put forward a real plan.

“We’ve put forward amendments to bills that would also reduce the ability of foreigners to claim benefits off the taxpayer. We know it’s completely out of control.

“The benefit system itself has issues. We’ve said that we should remove the caps, remove the limits, the child cap, so people aren’t able to claim ever-increasing numbers in benefits.

“We’ve got a deportation bill. We’ve done the homework, a real plan to take control of these borders. It’s there. It could work.”

Penny Smith responded: “Tell you what, anybody watching would just say: the Labour Party’s been in for a year, but you were in for a lot longer.

“It’s all very well to say what should have been done, but you should have done it. It should have been done.”

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He replied: “Well, Kemi wasn’t the leader, and I wasn’t a minister in that government. But the reality is things haven’t improved under the Labour Party, they’ve got significantly worse.

“The number of people arriving illegally in this country is up nearly 40 per cent. Hotels were being closed before the general election, and that would have continued.

“Instead, there are more people in hotels, and the number of people being returned has actually fallen. Everything is going the wrong way, not just a little, but disastrously.”

The confrontation comes as new data reveals the scale of Britain’s ongoing migration crisis.

More than 32,182 people have crossed the Channel in small boats since January, marking a substantial increase from the 24,335 recorded during the same period in 2024.

Recent days have seen particularly intense activity, with 1,072 migrants reaching British shores aboard 13 vessels on Friday alone.

An additional 83 individuals arrived at Dover early on Saturday morning, bringing the two-day total to 1,155 people.