Carol Vorderman calls 'gaslighting' home secretary 'the very worst of the worst'

Carol Vorderman has called out Suella Braverman for "gaslighting" over the refugees who died crossing the Channel, slamming her as "the very worst of the worst".

Broadcaster and mathematician Vorderman shared an angry response to home secretary Braverman's tweet saying that her "thoughts and prayers" were with those affected by the deaths from a migrant boat in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Six people died and more than 50 were rescued when the boat sank off the coast of France, but critics of the government have said that the tragedy was preventable if safe routes to the UK had been created, leaving refugees faced with the dangerous prospect of boarding an overcrowded small boat.

Braverman had tweeted: "My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the tragic loss of life in the Channel today. This morning I spoke with our Border Force teams who have been supporting the French authorities in response to this incident."

Vorderman replied: "You are the very worst of the worst, utterly undeserving of the position you hold. You decry everything that has been good in this country during my lifetime, seeking to cause division at every turn. I am ashamed of you and the govt in which you self-serve."

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The former Countdown star also screenshotted the Twitter exchange to Instagram, where she gave a lengthier take on the situation.

Vorderman wrote: "I could bear no more of the gaslighting from the home secretary. My answer to her post.

"Six people died attempting to reach our shores this weekend. It's reported that they were all Afghan refugees.

"Boris Johnson was PM at the time of the disgraceful govt response to the emergency evacuation of Kabul in 2021, Dominic Raab, the then foreign secretary, was on holiday and didn't come home. Our military did all they were allowed to do to help. As ever, they were excellent. Johnson promised Operation Warm Welcome for those who had assisted our military in Afghanistan across the years.

"Guess what? It hasn't happened. Yet another lie."

She then went on to share figures for the numbers of Afghans living in hiding after helping out the British Army but not being relocated to the UK, as well as those stuck in Pakistan awaiting relocation.

Vorderman continued: "Lord Richards, the former head of the UK armed forces, said: 'I and many others who had the privilege of serving in Afghanistan alongside our Afghan comrades have been very patient over the last two years, but the confusion and lack of action on the part of government is now beyond the pale and they must resolve this.'

"He added: 'They must now appoint a single minister to grip this disgraceful situation. The prime minister must sort this out personally.'

"Will it happen? Do they care? I'll let you answer those questions."

Vorderman, who presents a show for BBC Radio Wales, was recently criticised by Edwina Currie in a GB News discussion for airing her political views on social media, with Currie claiming that it broke the BBC's impartiality guidelines - although Vorderman has not used her BBC show for her comments.

Her criticisms of the government have ranged from their handling of Covid to the climate crisis, the cost of living and their response to migrants.

One of Vorderman's spats with the Tories has been with MP Johnny Mercer, disagreeing with his comments on food bank use being a personal choice for military veterans.

Mercer's wife Felicity Cornelius-Mercer also waded into the row, labelling Vorderman a "celebrity attack dog" on Rachel Johnson's LBC podcast.