Victoria Derbyshire put Labour’s Jacqui Smith on the spot during a tense Newsnight interview, repeatedly pressing the minister on a key election pledge to “smash” human trafficking gangs – but clear answers were in short supply.
🔎 Six Questions, Zero Answers
Derbyshire wasted no time, opening with a direct question: “Labour didn’t promise to stop the boats, but it did promise to smash the gangs who facilitate those dangerous Channel crossings. How many gangs have you smashed so far?”
Smith dodged the question, instead pointing to new legislation moving through Parliament, saying it would “enable law enforcement to get in earlier.”
Derbyshire pushed again: “So how many gangs have you smashed so far?”
Smith tried again, talking up “ongoing law enforcement activity” and international cooperation with countries like France. But Derbyshire pressed harder, firing back: “Is it 50? Is it 10? Is it zero?”
🤔 A Numbers Game
Smith still avoided giving a straight figure, insisting that Labour had made progress by “putting through the legislation that’s necessary” and building international partnerships. But Derbyshire wasn’t letting up, asking again: “Just so I’m clear, have you smashed any gangs?”
Smith responded with a vague promise that the work being done had “begun to disrupt that activity.”
Not satisfied, Derbyshire shot back one last time: “So how many?”
Smith could only offer: “I understand the frustration. I understand your question.”
📊 The Numbers Don’t Lie
While Smith dodged the numbers, the Home Office’s own data tells a clearer story. Just last weekend, 58 asylum seekers crossed the Channel on Saturday, with a further 232 on Sunday – pushing this year’s total past 10,000, a 40% rise on the same time last year.
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