Rishi Sunak said it was “not practical” to deploy the navy to the English Channel to deter migrant crossings as he was confronted by an angry voter.
The prime minister was faced with a question about tackling illegal migration from cab driver Grant Davis as he appeared on The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots programme.
The Rwanda deportation plan, which is set to cost tens of millions of pounds, is key to Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats” bringing unauthorised migrants to the UK.
Davis, who is part of The Sun’s “cabinet” as “transport secretary”, told Sunak to be more direct: “Why can’t you put the navy in the Channel so when the dinghies come over, you pull up, tow them back to Calais and say no thank you.
“If you want to send a message to the organised gangs bringing people over, that’s how you do it.”
Another member of The Sun’s “cabinet”, ex-Army captain Hugh Andree, said sending in the military would breach of France’s sovereignty.
Britain and Rwanda signed a deal almost two years ago that would see migrants who cross the English Channel in small boats sent to the East African country, where they would remain permanently. So far, no migrant has been sent to Rwanda under the agreement.
Elsewhere on the show, Sunak gave his strongest signal yet that he is willing to remove the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights amid the stalemate over the Rwanda policy.
The PM told The Sun that controlling immigration is more important than “membership of a foreign court”.
Critics have said the UK would be an international outlier along with Russia and Belarus if it left the convention, which is overseen by a court sitting in Strasbourg. The court’s president suggested in January the plan would breach international law.