'It’s not illegal to claim asylum. You’re lying. You’re lying'
A BBC Question Time audience member accused hardline Tory MP Danny Kruger of lying about immigration last night.
During a discussion about citizenship for those who enter the UK using dangerous routes, Kruger, who is the son of BBC Great British Bake Off presenter Prue Leith, said it was illegal to “break into” the UK and that those who do so should be deported.
The audience member interrupted the right-wing MP, stating: “It’s not illegal to claim asylum. You’re lying. You’re lying”.
He went on to say, “I find it quite disgusting how we’re talking about human beings,” and reiterated that claiming asylum in another country is not illegal.
“Illegal immigrants tend to be people who come here legally and overstay a visa […] or an application, […] they’re not people that are fleeing war.”
The audience member pointed out that countries that are closer to the Middle East “tend to take on a lot more refugees than we ever do”.
He criticised the rhetoric of calling refugees “invaders” and dehumanising them, stating that it’s a tactic used to blame them for issues like the housing shortage.
He then pointed out that the real cause of the UK’s housing crisis is the fact that only 250,000 council houses have been built since Margaret Thatcher took office in 1979, compared to 5 million built before that.
Kruger, a co-founder of the New Conservatives faction, which is anti-migration and pro cutting back on environmental policies, went on to say that there are 100 million people in the world who qualify for refugee status.
He said: “We have a genuine obligation to do what we can to the needy as the world, to the displaced, so dispossessed, to the people fleeing torture.”
“And we do that generously as this country, as we always have…”
“And I mean, you talk about human beings. There are a hundred million human beings in this world who would qualify for refugee status.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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