Ben Habib left Julia Hartley-Brewer gobsmacked over his radical plans to deal with the small boat crisis.
More than 400 migrants arrived in the UK on the day five people, including a child, died while trying to cross the Channel.
The crossings took place as the tragedy off the coast of northern France unfolded, just hours after Parliament passed legislation aimed at getting the Government’s plan to give asylum seekers a one-way ticket to Rwanda off the ground.
A dinghy carrying more than 100 people set off from Wimereux at around 6am on Tuesday but got into difficulty.
Three men, a woman and a girl were killed, according to the French coastguard.
Some 49 people were rescued but 58 others refused to leave the boat and continued their journey towards the UK, the coastguard said in a statement, with several other boats later embarking on the crossing.
Discussing the matter on TalkTV, the deputy leader of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK said migrants should be left to drown if they get in trouble in the sea.
“Let’s not infantilise these people, they have free will,” Mr Habib said.
“I’m not going to be held to ransom by their claim that they deserve protection as soon as they get into our territorial waters.
“If they choose to scupper that dinghy, then yes, they have to suffer the consequences of their actions.”
Ms Hartley-Brewer asked: “Then you would leave them to drown?”
“Absolutely,” he replied. “They cannot be infantalised to the point that we become hostage to fortune.”
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