Lee Anderson takes Yvette Cooper to task in brutal 4-word slap down

Reform UK's Lee Anderson took a swipe at the Home Secretary during a Commons debate on immigration. In a four-word take down of Yvette Cooper's record on the migrant crisis, the MP for Ashfield suggested there should be "a period of silence" from the minister.

He told MPs: "Every time the Home Secretary announces a new policy on illegal migration, illegal migration goes up, so I think a period of silence would be most welcome from the Home Secretary." He continued: "Does she agree with me that the only way to stop the pull factor is to detain, deport and never allow these illegal migrants to claim asylum in this country?" Ms Cooper hit back at Mr Anderson and Reform UK.

The Home Secretary said: "The problem with his party's approach is that it sounds a lot like the last Tory Government's grand promises, which totally failed.

"His party is just rehashing the same chaotic promises, without ever being able to provide the detail of how it would make any of its policies work."

Ms Cooper also pointed towards the Government's new 'One in, One out' migrant deal with France, which political opponents have argued is not a strong enough deterrent.

She earlier said the first returns of Channel migrants to France are expected to begin later this month.

Responding to Mr Anderson, the Labour frontbencher also claimed the Government has "increased returns of failed asylum seekers by nearly 30% since the election".

It comes after Reform UK unveiled its immigration plans last week.

Nigel Farage's party said it would seek to deport up to 600,000 asylum seekers in its first parliament if elected to government and leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

Up to August 31, around 29,000 migrants crossed the English Channel in small boats in 2025, the highest on record for this point in a year.

On Tuesday, Downing Street indicated Sir Keir Starmer is considering introducing new digital ID cards in a bid to crack down on small boat crossings.