Powell Won't Guarantee Undetected Migrants Detained

The question was put to Education Secretary Lucy Powell, who was introduced as the government minister taking the interview. Utley framed it around the Conservative plan to crack down on benefits, not around her own department's brief.

Powell's answer opened on the record rather than the policy: the Conservatives, according to her, first put forward what they are proposing today back in 2012 and did not follow through on it then. What is needed instead, in her account, are steps that actually work to get people back into work.

She listed measures she says are already under way — removing "perverse incentives" in the move from benefits into work, a youth guarantee, and changes letting people with disabilities try work before deciding so they do not lose all their benefits for something that does not work out. The review being carried out by Alan Milburn, due to report in the coming weeks, will have its recommendations followed through, she pointed out.

Her framing of the approach was that it is about "the carrot as much as it is about the stick," and as Education Secretary she is focused on that side of it too.

Utley put it to Powell that working people in Australia rather liked the idea that benefit recipients could not spend taxpayer money on cigarettes, alcohol and gambling, and asked whether Powell was suggesting the idea could not work in the UK.

Powell's response was that the evidence does not support the premise — that people are not spending their very little money on those things. In her account the vast majority of universal credit recipients use it for rent, bills and getting by, and it is "not a luxury sort of lifestyle for anybody by any means at all." Many universal credit recipients are actually in work, and the aim is making sure work pays so people

Welfare reform has already started with changes to some universal credit criteria designed to make it easier for people to begin work, alongside support for people with disabilities and the incoming youth guarantee, according to Powell. On top of that she placed what she described as a huge amount of work in the Milburn review, which she expects to shake up the welfare system.

She drew a distinction between reform and crude cuts, arguing that the cuts seen over the years simply do not work and have the opposite effect: pushing more people into poverty and crisis, which then has to be paid for in other ways. Her test: work pays, and people in work can afford the basics.

Her argument was that crude cuts do not achieve that effectively, because the money ends up being spent on crisis and other issues instead. The route she named is getting people into good, well-paid jobs they can be sustained in, which she called a hard job her government is determined to do.

The interview clip breaks here and returns with a separate line of questioning: whether viewers have concerns that the government wants to impact every area of their life. The framing contrasts that with a time when the state did what it needed to do and took a little of people's income.

The segment's framing argues the remit has changed. Where the state once provided good public services and that was "pretty much the remit," the speaker says, that is no longer the case, describing an age of increased censorship and two-tier policing.

That is then tied directly to money: the concern raised for viewers is that the government could debank you if your face does not fit or you say the wrong thing.

His claim is that national monetary systems are not anchored to anything, so there is no accountability in the number of currency units that can be issued.

He extended that to the people making the decisions, who he says bear no consequences for them and can arbitrarily inflate the money supply while supporting policies that do not make sense outside the Westminster bubble. His conclusion is that people need a choice other than a single state-run currency they have relied on all their lives.

In Perry's argument, reliance on the state currency and its credit has been used up for purposes that did not benefit the public.

His central point was about tax: he has already paid his tax on money going into his bank account, so it should not then be taxed again through inflation. He listed debanking and the programming of money — limits on what a person is permitted to spend it on — as further risks, and dismissed the idea outright.

The interviewer asked her to reassure viewers that all of the migrants on those two boats have now been detained and that none are on the loose. It was framed as a guarantee question to the Education Secretary, a minister outside the Home Office.

She conceded that small boat crossings remain a challenge.

She then cited a significant fall this year in the number of people crossing on small boats, which she attributed to the range of measures the government has brought into effect: dealing with things at source, tackling people coming in the first place, pull factors, strong border security, and tough powers to detain and deport. The last two years' measures are starting to bear fruit, with a significant fall in asylum hotels and accommodation, though more needs to be done.

The interviewer repeated the question and demanded a yes or no on whether any migrants are still at large. Powell's reply opened by putting distance between herself and the department responsible.

She went on to say that all action is being taken, that people are detained and that is what happens, and that people with no right to be here are removed. A breach in boats coming across undetected has occurred, Powell conceded, and the Home Secretary is taking swift action to find out what went wrong and make sure it does not happen again.

Her description of the undetected boats was blunt: she called it a breach, and that is why the Home Secretary is taking swift action to find out what has gone wrong here and make sure it does not happen again.

No substance from that line is delivered within this clip.

The questioner cited Tony Blair as a man who knows how to win elections and asked whether he had a point on Britain rejoining the EU.

Powell called her position really clear: the government wants a strengthened partnership with the European Union, which she described as our closest trading partner. She listed defence, security, migration and illegal migration as areas to work with Europe on, framing the goal as building on the existing partnership and a new one rather than rejoining. She also named support for Ukraine, tackling climate change and smoother access to trade across Europe as shared priorities.

Powell said the prime minister has been pretty clear there is not going to be a general election anytime soon, repeating "not in 2027." She declined to get into the speculation, saying she would not get into all that here and now, and pointed instead to her own job as Education Secretary and the lon

Powell identified herself as the Education Secretary and said she is announcing big reforms to vocational and technical education for young people at 16. Delivery will take time, and she does not want to be distracted by election speculation.

The reforms are planned to be introduced as early as September 2029. The questioner noted that school budgets are already stretched incredibly thinly and that teacher recruitment is very difficult, then asked directly whether there will be any new money to help schools implement the new technical GCSE reforms.

Powell called them necessary and important reforms that would give the same esteem, respect and clear quality and standards as other options. There is huge demand for them from schools, young people, parents and employers, Powell said, pointing out that a number of technical awards and qualifications already exist and what she wants is to raise their standards.

Her stated intention is that they be regulated and looked at by Ofqual so they carry the same respect and esteem as GCSEs, and she promised to work with schools and the sector to make sure the plan is deliverable.