Lee Anderson, the deputy Tory chairman, has criticised BBC presenter Gary Lineker for speaking out about the Government’s plan to tackle the small boats crisis.
Lineker, who is known for his controversial tweets about politics, retweeted a clip of Home Secretary Suella Braverman discussing new legislation to crack down on Channel migrant crossings, with the caption “Good heavens, this is beyond awful.”
However, Anderson hit back at Lineker, calling him “totally out of touch” with the British public and a “virtue-signalling out-of-touch multi-millionaire ex-footballer.”
Anderson’s comments come as the Home Secretary unveiled new legislation to remove and ban migrants from re-entry if they arrive in the UK through unauthorised means.
Braverman stated that the need for reform of the asylum system is “obvious and urgent,” and that many of the people who have arrived on small boats came “from safe countries like Albania.”
She also noted that “the vast majority” were adult males under 40 “rich enough to pay criminal gangs thousands of pounds for passage” and that “upon arrival, most are accommodated in hotels across the country, costing the British taxpayer around £6 million a day.”
The new Illegal Migration Bill will include a duty on the Home Secretary to remove “as soon as reasonably practicable” anyone who arrives on a small boat, either to Rwanda or a “safe third country.”
Arrivals will also be prevented from claiming asylum while in the UK, with plans to ban them from returning once removed.
However, critics have warned that the proposals are “unworkable” and will leave thousands of migrants in limbo by banning them from ever claiming British citizenship again.
The Government’s controversial plan to send migrants on a one-way ticket to Rwanda has also been grounded by legal challenges. So far this year, almost 3,000 people have made the perilous journey from France.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made getting a grip on the issue one of his top five priorities for his premiership, arguing that the new legislation will “take back control of our borders, once and for all.”
