Darren Jones refuses to apologise for suggesting most Channel migrants are women and children... after 'clarifying' that he was only talking about passengers on TWO boats
Treasury Chief Secretary Darren Jones insisted there is no need for him to say sorry despite anger at his comments on the BBC 's Question Time last week.
In interviews this morning, Mr Jones acknowledged that he could have been 'more specific'. He said he had only been referring to passengers on two boats he had seen during a visit to Border Security Command.
Pressed on Times Radio whether he needed to apologise, Mr Jones said: 'No, because I'd started the sentence by saying, on a visit to the border security command, this is what I was being told.
'Now, look, could I have been more specific and said the two specific boats I was being shown on that day on the visit?
'Evidently, probably, yes, I should have been a little bit more specific in my language there, but I was very clear that that's what I was talking about.'
He suggested his words had been 'misrepresented' as a claim that small boats arrivals were predominantly women, children and babies, 'which isn't the case'.
Analysis of Home Office data indicates that adult males made up 73 per cent of small boat arrivals from January 2018 to March 2025, where details of age and sex were recorded.
During a debate on the BBC programme on Thursday, Mr Jones said: 'When you're there on the site seeing these dinghies put together by these organised criminal gangs which are clearly not safe.
'And when you see that the majority of people in these boats are children, babies and women…' he said.
When Reform's Zia Yusuf intervened to say that was wrong and 'more than 90 per cent' were adult males, Mr Jones said: 'I'm saying that's not true.'
He later added: 'When there are babies and children put into that position by human trafficking gangs who are coming across on the Channel with skin burns from the oil from those boats mixing with the salt seawater.
'I would ask any of you to look at those babies and children and say 'go back where you came from'.'
Mr Jones moved to 'clarify' his remarks on Friday evening as a backlash grew
He also said that the immigration system was 'left out of control' by the Conservatives.
Amid a backlash on Friday, Mr Jones took to the X social media to 'clarify' his remarks.
'Of course the overall majority of people arriving illegally on small boats are men – but not 'north of 90 per cent' as Reform claimed.
'On BBC Question Time, I shared a story from my visit to the Border Security Command about a dinghy that arrived mostly carrying women, children and babies who had suffered horrific burns.
'I'm happy to clarify this given how this is now being misrepresented.'
Asked about Mr Jones's comments, a Downing Street spokesman said on Friday: 'The Government is absolutely focused on tackling these vile smuggling gangs that risk lives in the Channel.'
Asked if the Prime Minister had confidence in Mr Jones, the spokesman said: 'Yes.'
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