Labour MP left SQUIRMING on Daily Politics after refusing to commit to migration targets
A LABOUR MP was taken to task after refusing to commit to immigration targets until Britain had a "national conversation" about migration.
Labour MP GRILLED over immigration
Debbie Abrahams, shadow secretary of state for work and pensions, said the UK needed to decide what immigration “means” before setting targets in preparation for Brexit.
The comments come after Sunder Katwala, the director of think tank British Future, proposed a quota system for unskilled workers after Britain leaves the UK.
Speaking on BBC Two’s Daily Politics, Mrs Abrahams spoke of her party’s stance on immigration.
She said: “What we want is to have a national conversation about immigration and what that means.”
MP Debbie Abrahams clashes with presenter Jo Coburn over immigration targets
What we want is to have a national conversation about immigration and what that means
Presenter Jo Coburn hit back and suggested the UK had already had a “conversation” during the last general election and the EU referendum.
The Oldham East and Saddleworth MP said: “The general election covered a whole host of things and the only question, as I can understand, in the referendum was ‘do you want be in Europe or out?’
“There was a really complex result, in terms of our understanding of that result.
"We need to have a more detailed understanding of what that means.”
She said the UK would not be able to survive without sustaining immigration.
Labour & Tory MPs CLASH over IMMIGRATION
“As has been pointed out already our care services – one in five care workers come from overseas – also our NHS staff, we would collapse without those skilled workers but also the less skilled workers,” she added.
After being questioned about wanting any kind of control or not, Mrs Abrahams said: “We need to have a national conversation.
“We need to recognise what migration does and how it supports and enables our economy, so we know that there’s a benefit to our economy.”
Mrs Abrahams said a clear message had not been sent during the EU referendum regarding immigration
The politician refused to take the referendum result as signalling tighter controls on immigration – despite it being at the forefront of the official Vote Leave campaign.
“What they said was they want to be out of Europe, it’s very complex to understand exactly why people wanted to leave,” she said. “Even in areas where there’s no migration, people voted to leave," she continued.
Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt, who was also on the show, criticsed Mrs Abrahams' comments.
She told her fellow MP: “I think we are kidding ourselves if we don’t accept that immigration was a major part.”