'He was the first through the e-gates somewhere in the South of France'
With Nigel Farage holidaying in France, Lee Anderson took his place at PMQs, prompting Keir Starmer to quip that the Reform UK leader was “the first through the e-gates”.
The prime minister’s joke was a nod to the EU ‘reset’ deal announced Monday that will allow British travellers to once again use e-gates at passport control when entering the EU.
Starmer said: “It’s very good he’s standing in for the Member for Clacton, I have to say, there was no sign of him yesterday at the EU statement. He was the first through the e-gates somewhere in the South of France.”
“Nice work if you can get it!,” he added.
In his question, the Ashfield MP said that Starmer keeps telling his “gullible backbenchers” that the government has deported 24,000 people from the country since last July.
Anderson added: “But he won’t say who they are, now it’s my guess that they are people who came on work visas, students and they are simply overstayers.”
He then asked: “How many of these people that he has deported are failed asylum seekers that’s come on small boats or on the back of lorries?”.
As Anderson asked his question to the prime minister, other MPs shook their heads at the Reform MP and shouted “Where’s Nigel?”.
Starmer pointed out that Reform voted against the government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, adding that the party doesn’t want to fix this problem “because it benefits them not to fix it”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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