Labour minister accuses Reform MP of 'singling out' Muslim migrants over women's safety claims
A Labour minister has accused Reform MP Sarah Pochin of "singling out" Muslim migrants after she claimed they held "medieval beliefs" and posed a threat to women’s safety in Britain.
Listen to this article
A Labour minister has accused Reform MP Sarah Pochin of "singling out" Muslim migrants after she claimed those arriving on small boats held "medieval beliefs" and posed a threat to women’s safety in Britain.
Baroness Jacqui Smith criticised the Runcorn and Helsby MP after she told reporters the UK was no longer a "safe haven" for women because of the threat posed by migrants from Muslim countries.
Speaking at a Reform press conference on Monday, Ms Pochin said migrants arriving on small boats from France were a "national security" issue that posed significant dangers for women and girls.
She claimed that of 1,453 sexual assault convictions in 2024, a quarter were committed by foreign nationals.
While Baroness Smith agreed that action needed to be taken to prevent violence against women and girls in the UK, she felt Ms Pochin and Reform were "unwilling to take action" to tackle the issue.
Read more: BMA 'agree not to strike for a month', Wes Streeting tells LBC
Speaking to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, the skills minister said: "Where I take issue with Reform is that whilst we're [the government], for example, taking through the Police and Crime Bill with additional powers in it to help to protect women, Reform voted against it.
"So you can point at the problem, but unless you're willing to take action, as this government is, you're not really serious about actually tackling it."
When asked if she agreed with Ms Pochin's comments, Baroness Smith said: "No I don't think they are right to single those people out.... unfortunately there are too many, largely men, who are responsible for violence against women of all types.
"And that's why I hope Reform will change their position and actually support us in the tough legislation we're bringing forwards to tackle that violence."
It comes as the latest figures reveal more than 50,000 migrants had crossed the English Channel in small boats since Labour came to power.
According to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, there were around 20,000 small boat crossings between January and June this year – the highest ever number for the period and 48% more than in the same months in 2024.
Baroness Smith admitted tackling illegal migration had been "a very big challenge" for the government, telling LBC: "I think the action that the government has taken over the last year where we've seen the doubling of asylum cases being determined, where we've seen increased numbers of people being returned overseas.
"The new scheme that we have with France, for example, means that if somebody doesn't have a right to stay, we can quickly return them to France.
"And we've already detained the first group of people who are illegal immigrants into the country and we'll be able to return them to France."