A Tory MP has come under fire for claiming immigration has turned parts of the UK into a “ghetto” and that NHS waiting lists are long in some areas because “people do not speak English”.
In an inflammatory intervention that drew comparisons with Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech, MP for Doncaster Nick Fletcher said his constituency was “full” of immigrants as he railed against “left-wing” lawyers who he claimed were trying to scupper the government’s Rwanda plan.
“It’s happening in Doncaster and it’s happening in places throughout this country, and we are turning parts of our community into a ghetto, and this is what is happening,” Mr Fletcher told MPs in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
“Your little child falls over in the street, you have to go to A&E and you get a 12-hour waiting list, and the reason why the waiting list is so long is because people don’t speak English in these places anymore,” he added.
Responding to Mr Fletcher’s comments, SNP MP Joanna Cherry said she felt like she had been “sucked back in time to listen to Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech again.”
“The member who has just spoken needs to inform his constituents the reason they live in the sort of conditions he describes and the reason they have such low wages is not because of immigration, but because of more than 10 years of Tory government,” she added.
Michael Shanks, Labour MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, described Mr Fletcher’s remarks as “repugnant” and one of the most “appalling” speeches he had ever heard.
Mr Fletcher, a Tory right-winger who is part of the New Conservatives grouping made up of MPs in ‘red wall’ seats, made the remarks during a debate on the government’s Rwanda bill, which passed the Commons in a vote on Tuesday despite a rebellion. He voted for the bill but said he would work with other Conservative MPs who wanted to make it “stronger”.
The vote saw 313 MPs in favour of the legislation and 269 against, giving the government a majority of 44. It means the Safety of Rwanda Bill lives to fight another day, although the prime minister faces another Commons vote in January.
A number of MPs on both sides of the Conservative Party are not fully satisfied with the plan and 37 mostly right-wingers either did not vote for the bill or abstained, after arguing the legislation was not strong enough to stop legal challenges.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, former cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke, ERG chairman Mark Francois and Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger from the New Conservatives group were among those who had a no vote recorded.
The Independent has contacted Mr Fletcher for comment.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry urged compared speech to Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood address
