Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has rejected language used by the home secretary describing the influx of asylum seekers to the UK as an “invasion”.

Suella Braverman told MPs yesterday that the public needs to know which party is serious about “stopping the invasion” of migrants on the southern coast of the UK.

Mr Jenrick, when asked if he would characterise the situation in the same way, told Sky News: “In a job like mine, you have to choose your words very carefully. And I would never demonise people coming to this country in pursuit of a better life.”

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However, he said describing people crossing the Channel as an “invasion” was a way to show the scale of the issue “and that’s what Suella Braverman was trying to express”.

He also claimed that Ms Braverman was speaking for people who live on the south coast “who day in, day out are seeing migrant boats landing on their beaches”.

“There was a report just yesterday from a lady who found a young migrant from Albania in her kitchen seekingsupport, asking for money,” he said.

“I know that that’s not acceptable in this country.”

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