Reform UK's deputy leader Ben Habib appeared to suggest migrants should be left to drown in the English Channel in comments that horrified an interviewer on Tuesday, 23 April. It came after a seven-year-old girl was among five migrants who died as they tried to cross the water hours after parliament passed Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda bill. Mr Habib told Julia Hartley-Brewer: "We only have an obligation to save people if it's reasonable to do so." When challenged on his beliefs, Mr Habib replied: "We could... provide them with another dinghy... [to] go back to France. "And if they choose to scupper that dinghy, then yes, they have to suffer the consequences of that." When asked if he would leave them to drown, Mr Habib said "Absolutely."