A Tory MP has been slammed over comments he made about missing migrant children.
Former schools minister Jonathan Gullis heckled Labour’s Tulip Siddiq when she raised the issue in the House of Commons yesterday.
Ministers are under fire after an investigation by the Observer found that dozens of asylum-seeking children had vanished from a hotel in Brighton that is run by the Home Office.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick confirmed that of the 4,600 unaccompanied children that have arrived in the UK since July 2021, 440 have vanished at some point, while 200 remain missing.
Of the 200, 13 are under the age of 16 and one is female.
When Tulip Siddiq raised the issue at prime minister’s questions, Gullis said: “Well, they shouldn’t have come here illegally.”
His comments were tweeted by shadow Northern Ireland secretary Peter Kyle - sparking a furious backlash online.
In a statement issued to HuffPost UK, the defiant MP for Stoke-in-Trent North accused Labour of pursuing an “open door approach to illegal immigration”.
Among those joined in the wave of criticism of Gullis were TV personality Sue Perkins.
Others called for the Commons authorities to take action against the MP.
Gullis told HuffPost UK: “Labour’s open door approach to illegal immigration shows they’re out of touch with the public, out of ideas on migration, and explains why they’ve been out of government for over a decade.
“I fully support the Prime Minister in stopping migrants claiming asylum who have entered the UK illegally, deporting them to safe third countries like Rwanda instead, and smash apart the vile smuggling gangs.”