Huge BBC row erupts as Thought for the Day pulled in Tory migrant clash

The BBC has temporarily pulled their Thought for the Day segment on the Today programme after a guest accused Robert Jenrick of "xenophobia" due to his stance on illegal immigration. Dr Krish Kandiah, who founded a refugee charity, was responding to Jenrick writing in the Mail on Sunday about his fears for his daughter's safety because of the rise in undocumented young males entering the UK. On the show, he said: "These words echo a fear many have absorbed. Fear of the stranger. The technical name for this is xenophobia."

It didn't take long before the politician hit back at the medic online, posting on X - formerly known as Twitter: "On BBC Radio 4 this morning, listeners were told that if you're concerned about the threat of illegal migrants to your kids, you're racist. Wrong. You're a good parent."

Following the explosive and public row, the broadcaster withdrew the entire Today programme after the comments were accidentally made public on it's on-demand BBC Sounds service.

The station's head of editorial standards, Roger Mahony, apologised to the politician, insisting the references to xenophobia would be edited out before the show was reuploaded. They also issue an apology for the "inclusion" of some of the language used.

He said: "Following discussion of the programme with the production team, I have concluded that, while its reflection on fear in society from a daith perspective is broadly in lone with expectations of Thought for the Day, some of the language it used went beyond that."

Mr Mahony added: "I have asked for the two references to xenophobia to be edited from the programme on BBC Sounds. Please accept my apology for their original inclusion."

Dr Kandiah, who has previously appeared on programmes including BBC Breakfast and BBC News 24, was speaking a day after the number of Channel migrant crossings passed 50,000 since Sir Keir Starmer took office.

He claimed that "the majority of people arriving in small boats are found to be genuinely fleeing war, persecution, and famine - circumstances we would never wish on our own families.

"The idea that they pose a greater risk to our children than those already within our communities isn't supported by evidence. Most crimes against children are committed not by strangers but by people they know, often from within their own families or neighbourhoods."