Labour frontbencher says some British voters are ‘xenophobes’ and will be attracted by Suella Braverman’s warning of an immigration ‘hurricane’
British ‘xenophobes’ will be attracted by Suella Braverman’s warning of an migration ‘hurricane’, a Labour frontbencher said today.
Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said there was a ‘segment of the electorate’ that is ‘xenophobic’ and would agree with the Home Secretary.
Speaking at a Labour conference fringe event, he branded Ms Braverman’s address to Tory conference last week a ‘new low’.
‘It was a new low – I say that resignedly, as we’ve seen many, many new lows,’ Mr Kinnock told the panel discussion hosted by the Hope Not Hate campaign group.
Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock (file picture) said there was a ‘segment of the electorate’ that is ‘xenophobic’ and would agree with the Home Secretary
Mr Kinnock was speaking at a panel discussion hosted by the Hope Not Hate campaign group
He added: ‘We ain’t seen nothing yet. They will stop at nothing to divide our communities and find issues that they think will fire up their base. Their policies on asylum and immigration are being driven entirely by Machiavellian policies.
‘There are segments of the electorate that have very progressive views on immigration, there are segments of the electorate who want a controlled and compassionate approach…
‘I’m afraid there is a segment of the electorate which, I’m afraid, is xenophobic and has a view on immigration that is essentially reflected in what Suella Braverman said.’
During her speech to the Tory conference in Manchester last week, Ms Braverman said her own parents’ migration to Britain was a ‘mere gust compared to the hurricane that is coming’.
She argued that millions of people could come, including those who would take jobs off locals and criminals who would groom children.
But her hardline address to Conservative members prompted a fierce backlash from critics, while she also faced jibes she was prioritising her Tory leadership hopes over tackling day-to-day issues.
Cabinet colleague Grant Shapps was among those who backed the Home Secretary, dismissing comparisons to Enoch Powell’s infamous ‘rivers of blood’ speech.
‘Suella’s first generation, her parents came over in the 60s. So this is certainly no Enoch Powell situation, is it, to make the very obvious point.’
In his own speech a day later, Mr Sunak was viewed as taking a pointed dig at Ms Braverman’s recent claim that multiculturalism has ‘failed’.
The PM spoke about his personal pride that ‘a family can go from arriving here with little to Downing Street in three generations’.
During her Tory conference speech last week, Suella Braverman said her own parents’ migration to Britain was a ‘mere gust compared to the hurricane that is coming’
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