SUELLA Braverman has been criticised for claiming that the UK is facing an “invasion” of migrants.
The beleaguered Home Secretary was in the Commons facing questions over the conditions at the Manston asylum processing centre in Kent.
Over the weekend, the number of people staying there reached 4,000. It is supposed to only house 1,600.
Ms Braverman told the Commons: “Let’s be clear about what is really going on here: the British people deserve to know which party is serious about stopping the invasion on our southern coast and which party is not.
“Some 40,000 people have arrived on the south coast this year alone. Many of them facilitated by criminal gangs, some of them actual members of criminal gangs.
“So let’s stop pretending that they are all refugees in distress. The whole country knows that is not true. It’s only the honourable members opposite who pretend otherwise.
“We need to be straight with the public. The system is broken. Illegal migration is out of control and too many people are interested in playing political parlour games, covering up the truth than solving the problem.”
SNP MP Anne McLaughlin said she was "disgusted" by the comment.
Taking to Twitter, she wrote: "Disgusted, absolutely disgusted to hear a Home Secretary deliberately use inflammatory language about vulnerable asylum seekers - 'scourge', 'invasion'. Here's a word for you @SuellaBraverman - SHAMEFUL."
Disgusted, absolutely disgusted to hear a Home Secretary deliberately use inflammatory language about vulnerable asylum seekers - 'scourge', 'invasion'. Here's a word for you @SuellaBraverman - SHAMEFUL.
— Anne McLaughlin SNP MP (@AnneMcLaughlin) October 31, 2022
Her colleague Tommy Sheppard referenced the firebombing of a Border Force immigration centre in Dover on Sunday.
While there has been no confirmation of the motive, the suspect is a white, 66-year-old from the High Wycombe area.
He was later found dead.
Mr Sheppard tweeted: "Shameful stuff. This far-right and inflammatory rhetoric comes the day after a migrant centre was attacked."
Shameful stuff. This far-right and inflammatory rhetoric comes the day after a migrant centre was attacked. https://t.co/THncPPTMmU
— Tommy Sheppard MP (@TommySheppard) October 31, 2022
Kim Johnson, the Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, said the language would embolden racists.
She tweeted: “One day after petrol bombs were thrown at the Dover immigration centre, Suella Braverman talks of ‘an invasion on the South coast’.
“That is why racists and extremists feel emboldened to attack vulnerable asylum seekers. The Government needs to stop inflaming hate.”
Another Labour MP Zarah Sultana said: “Language like this – portraying migrants as “invaders” – whips-up hate & spreads division.”
In the Commons, Ms Braverman criticised Labour MP Rachael Maskell for using “inflammatory language” after she said conditions in Manston were “clearly unsafe and inhumane.”
She was referencing reports of number of cases of diphtheria, scabies and MSRA at the site.
Ms Braverman replied: “Whilst the issue at Manston is indisputably concerning. I don’t want us to create alarm unnecessarily, so when she talks about the language that she uses, I do gently urge her not to use inflammatory language.”
Ms Braverman later agreed with suggestions from Tory MP Lee Anderson that some migrants can “get on a dinghy and go straight back to France” if they believe the accommodation in the UK is not good enough.
Mr Anderson told the Commons: “We’ve got Albanian criminals leaving Albania, which is a safe country, the same criminals then setting up shop in France, they’re then leaving France, which is a safe country, and coming to the UK across the Channel, and then when they get into accommodation we’ve got the opposition parties saying the accommodation is not good enough for them.
“Or does the Home Secretary agree with me that if the accommodation is not good enough for them they can get on a dinghy and go straight back to France.”
Ms Braverman replied: “Well, my honourable friend is right.
“The average cost per night is £150 per person per night in a hotel. By my standards, that’s quite a nice hotel, I’m afraid, and therefore any complaints that the accommodation isn’t good enough is frankly absolutely indulgent and ungrateful.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel