Starmer faces growing Labour revolt amid claim Mandelson dealt with Epstein after conviction: UK politics live

Two more Labour MPs have broken ranks to urge Sir Keir Starmer to sack Lord Mandelson immediately.

Backbenchers Richard Burgon and Nadia Whittome said Lord Mandelson should never have been appointed.

Ms Whittome said: “We either stand with victims or we don’t.”

The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

While Labour typically meets Reform where they are, piling in to their anti-immigration rhetoric, this evening we’ve seen Mike Tapp in a few instances challenge some of Zia Yusuf’s claims.

While he has unsurprisingly been robust in his agreement that the government wants to stop the boats, we also saw the Home Office minister call out Mr Yusuf for his claims about sexual offences committed by illegal migrants.

“One rape, one sexual assault, is too many, but the majority of those that come over are not rapists and sexual assaulters”, Mr Tapp said, to Mr Yusuf’s outrage.

We also saw him earlier attack the Reform politician for using the word “invasion” to describe the migrant crisis, accusing him of “feeding racism”.

The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

Zia Yusuf was brutally called out by presenter Trevor Phillips after he claimed Reform “wouldn’t hesitate to deploy the Navy” to stop small boat crossings.

But the Sky News presenter pointed out that a week earlier, the Reform boss was much less convinced by the idea.

When the inconsistency was pointed out to him, he denied having said it.

The altercation handed an open goal to Labour’s Mike Tapp, who declared: “Reform’s head of policy doesn’t even know their own policy”.

The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

Mike Tapp was immediately thrown into the hot seat as this evening’s immigration debate got underway, with the new Home Office minister being urged to explain how things will be different under new home secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Perhaps for fear of undermining the work of Yvette Cooper, he struggled to outline concrete things they would be doing differently – instead resorting to the classic Home Office approach of ramping up the rhetoric.

“We’re going to go harder. We’re going to go faster. We’re going to fix this problem”, he insisted.

Pressed on what exactly would change under Ms Mahmood, he added: “What we’re going to see going forward is essentially doing what it takes. We’re starting already to explore Ministry of Defense sites to take people out of hotels. We’re looking at the ECHR to ensure we can deport and remove more people. We will make sure that the French deal improves.”

Unfortunately for the government, none of this marks a tangible shift from what was being done before.

The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

The Sky News immigration debate has already descended into a slanging match between Mike Tapp and Zia Yusuf, with the Labour Home Office minister accusing the Reform politician of “feeding racism” after Mr Yusuf used the word “invasion” to describe the number of people crossing the Channel.

“I used that language on the ground in Afghanistan when people were shooting at us. You’re using it to describe people looking for a better life”, Mr Tapp said.

Hitting back, Mr Yusuf claimed the majority of people arriving in the UK were “fighting age men who hate this country”.

Almost shouting over him, Mr Tapp said: “Disgraceful behaviour. This is what I mean. You wrap yourself in our flag but you will do nothing for this country. You’re plastic patriots. Disgusting”.

Responding, Mr Yusuf accused him of “betraying British people”.

“Nothing is off the table” in tackling illegal migration, Home Office minister Mike Tapp said.

“People coming over is illegally is completely unacceptable, and that’s why we’re looking with the new home secretary to ensure that nothing is off the table.

“We will not accept this, and I agree with you on that, that it’s wrong that the taxpayers are having to carry this burden, but that’s where moving them into MoD sites as well will help, because it will reduce the cost.

“But effectively, if we keep doing what we’re doing with these increased deportations and removals, those costs will go down.”

Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf said: “We would have no hesitation using the Navy to detain all of those illegal migrants transport directly to a detention camp and then deport them.”

Liberal Democrat MP Lisa Smart said: “Most people who are fleeing war and persecution want to seek asylum in a country much closer to home. They want to return to their country when the war or the instability is over. And so what we should be doing far earlier than when people get to the French coast is supporting efforts going on throughout the United Nations.”

Asked why the UK wasn’t sending small boats back to France, Home Office minister Mike Tapp said French permission to do that would be needed.

He said the boats were very flimsy and they collapsed on themselves.

“So if you start to try and turn one round, it collapses. You’ve then got up to 100 people in the water, potentially dying,” he said.

Shadow justice minister Kieran Mullan has admitted the Tories were too slow to act on illegal migration, during the Sky News debate.

He defended the policy of sending people abroad, he said: “We paid insufficient attention to the issue of illegal migration.”