Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh has told Parliament he thinks Lincolnshire has done enough to take in Eastern European migrants.
His remarks came during a debate about Britain taking in refugees from Ukraine and has caused controversy.
During the debate Sir Edward congratulated the Home Secretary for her “proportionate response”, as the United Kingdom is “the country of choice for mass migration”.
Speaking in the Commons, he said: “May I actually congratulate her on her proportionate response.
I think we have to remember that unlike the rest of Europe we have uniquely liberal labour laws and we speak English so we are the country of choice for mass immigration.
“And therefore I do urge her to as well as listen to all these humanitarian voices, to listen to the voices of people from for instance in Lincolnshire, where we feel we have done really our bit in terms of migration from eastern Europe where we are under extreme pressure in terms of housing and jobs.
“I know it is difficult to say but we have to be honest about this – and may I therefore be a correcting voice in this and congratulate her on her humanitarian but proportionate response and not throwing away the immigration rule book?”
Priti Patel replied: “We want to do the right thing by the people of Ukraine.
There is no question about that.
“I have spoken about security checks, the significance of them but also the fact that we are giving people who want to come to the United Kingdom the chance to live their lives freely, access public funds but also work and with that of course, people will need documentation and we have a system in place for all that.”
Leave a Reply