Sir Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of being “absolutely deluded” on his small boats policy as they clashed during Prime Minister’s Questions.
The Labour leader claimed the Government’s latest asylum proposals represent “more talk, more gimmicks, more promises to be broken.”
But the Prime Minister defended the plans saying “Stopping the boats is not just my priority, it’s the people’s priority.”
He accused the Labour leader of being “just another lefty lawyer standing in our way” against efforts to tackle the problem.
The controversial new proposals to crack down on Channel crossings, unveiled by Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Tuesday, would remove and ban asylum seekers from re-entry if they arrive in the UK through unauthorised means.
The Illegal Migration Bill sparked a furore from inside and outside the Commons with critics saying it is “unworkable” and will leave thousands of migrants in limbo by banning them from ever claiming British citizenship.
The United Nations’ refugee agency urged MPs and peers to block the “profoundly” concerning plan, while human rights organisation Amnesty International UK said it contained nothing “fair, humane or even practical” and described it as a “shocking new low”.
Mr Sunak defended the proposed legislation at a press conference in Dover on Tuesday, vowing migrants arriving in the UK illegally would be removed “within weeks”.
The Government is likely to face legal challenges over the bill, amid allegations it does not comply with the UK’s commitments under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
