Grant Shapps clashed with a Sky News presenter over the government’s record on immigration in an excruciating breakfast TV interview.
The energy secretary complained that Jayne Secker was not letting him answer her questions as he tried to attack the Labour Party.
Secker asked Shapps why the government had data on how many immigrants were still in the UK despite their students visas running out.
The minister said: “I don’t know the answer on that specific point, but broadly I would say this government has really proactively passed - I have to say against Labour on every single occasion - a whole series of pieces of legislation ...”
But the presenter replied: “It’s not Labour who’s been in power for the last 13 years.”
A clearly-annoyed Shapps hit back: “You need to let me complete my sentences here, otherwise this is not going to be very informative.”
Secker then said: “If I ask you about something the government has done, it seems disingenuous for you to then start blaming Labour.”
The minister responded: “Every time I give you an answer you cut across the answer.
“The point I was trying to make is we have been passing legislation against tooth and nail opposition from the Labour Party to crack down on things like illegal migration - what happens across the Channel, for example, with small boats.”
Shapps also said the government was “closing down a whole series of bogus degree courses being used to attract people, perhaps illegally, for migration purposes”.
That appeared to be a reference to the recent announcement by Rishi Sunak that the government wanted to end “low value” degrees, although the PM made no mention of it being connected to immigration or the number of foreign students.
Meanwhile, Shapps was also skewered on the government’s decision to award dozens of new North Sea oil and gas drilling licences.
The energy secretary was told it was “utter hypocrisy” for the government to give the green light to the extraction of more fossil fuels while claiming to be in favour of net zero.
Shapps said: “No, because if you care about getting to net zero, as we do, then you have to plan to get there.
“Unless you’re going to tell people ‘please don’t switch on your gas boilers this winter, please don’t drive your petrol car if you haven’t switched over to electric yet’ - unless you’re going to tell people that, then you’re actually going to have to import the difference between what we dig out of the North Sea and the gas and oil that we need.”