'We've had a lot of people coming here' Tory Brexiteer hails May's immigration clampdown
A TORY Brexiteer has insisted securing the rights of UK citizens living in the European Union should be the next government’s priority after bashing the UK’s immigration policy under the bloc.
Tory Brexiteer says there is no plan to send EU migrants back
James Cleverly, who is standing for re-election in Braintree, hailed Theresa May’s pledge to reduce net migration to the “tens of thousands”.
Speaking to talkRADIO, the politician compared the UK to Canada’s “incredibly tough” immigration system and praised it for allowing the country to take on those “who are there for the right reasons”.
Speaking about Britain’s policy, he said: “One of the big things actually that we saw coming up during the European referendum, the EU referendum, is the fact that we don’t have complete control over our immigration system.
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We have to take as many people from the European Union as want to come here… we had a lot of people coming here in a short space of time
“We have to take as many people from the European Union as want to come here… we had a lot of people coming here in a short space of time.”
When asked if a government led by Mrs May would endorse “sending them back”, he rubbished the suggestion.
He said: “I don’t envisage that happening, there is no appetite from anyone I speak to in politics right across the political spectrum, with a few exceptions at the real fringe, that want to repatriate anyone.
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“However, the first priority for a British government is to protect the rights of British citizens and that includes the British citizens currently in the EU and until we can secure their rights, we cannot unilaterally give away rights to others.”
He then warned there could be retaliation if "our partners in the EU decide to do something really spiteful and disruptive to British citizens living the EU”.
The comments come after the Prime Minister quashed speculation that the Tories were edging away from David Cameron's target of slashing net migration to under 100,000 a year.
She said: ”Once we leave the European Union we will have the opportunity to ensure that we will have control of our borders.”