A showdown commenced on GB News after former Labour MP Bill Rammell showered the Government’s new migrant returns deal with praise.

Former newspaper editor Kelvin MacKenzie lashed out about what he thinks is a “piece of PR” by a Labour Government desperately hiding its failings.

“I think this is really welcome”, Rammell argued. “No other government has achieved this. Actually getting a deal with France to return migrants.

“This is actually a deal Robert Jenrick proposed when he was Immigration Minister to Rishi Sunak. The Tories could never deliver it. The fact this is going to be televised with this footage is also really welcome, it acts as a deterrent.

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“It’s going to start small. It’s a trial. It’s taken huge diplomatic and political heavy lifting to get the French to deal with this and more importantly, getting the European Union not to block it.

“We’ve got there. We start small. You test it works. This, alongside the Border Security Bill…”

MacKenzie had heard enough and he interjected to point out Rammell’s previous celebration of Labour’s ‘smash the gangs’ pledge.

He continued: “All it is, is more words.”

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Rammell said there is “no silver bullet” as dealing with the migrant crisis is “hugely challenging and complicated” for any government.

“No normal legislation by a normal government is going to work until we get a Farage-like figure who decides, ‘we are pushing these people back’”, said MacKenzie.

Rammell said the previous Labour Government’s ‘multi-pronged’ assault on slashing the number of asylum seekers entering Britain helped significantly and Yvette Cooper’s current approach is the right one.

“The world has moved on since then”, GB News host Michelle Dewberry chimed in to say.

“It was a multi-pronged approach and that is what you need”, said Rammell. “You need a massive crackdown on illegal working and the Government is ramping that up.”

Michelle hit back: “When you say that, illegal working, the Government talks all this tough rhetoric but everyone with a braincell knows these people are going to work and the Government won’t even share the data of these asylum hotels with those companies initially.

“It turned around and said ‘we need to respect the confidentiality of the people in those hotels’.

“It was only after massive public backlash they then U-turned. If you’re serious as a Government about clamping down on illegal working, you wouldn’t need random public opinion to force you to U-turn. That would be your starting position.”

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Sir Keir Starmer revealed on Thursday that authorities have apprehended the initial group of migrants under Britain's newly operational returns arrangement with France.

The prime minister declared on social media platform X: "We have detained the first illegal migrants under our new deal before returning them to France."

Those who reached British shores via small boats on Wednesday afternoon are now being held at immigration removal facilities whilst awaiting deportation to France in the coming weeks.

The Home Office confirmed detention procedures commenced for individuals arriving from Wednesday lunchtime onwards.

"If you break the law to enter this country, you will face being sent back," Starmer stated.

British authorities must submit referral documentation to French officials within 72 hours of a migrant's arrival via small vessel, according to the Home Office. French authorities then have a fortnight to provide their response.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper declined to reveal the exact number of individuals currently detained or scheduled for deportation.

"The transfers to immigration removal centres are under way as we speak, so we won't provide operational details at this point that criminal gangs can simply use and exploit," Cooper explained.

She emphasised that "anyone who arrives from now on is eligible for immediate detention and return."