'Hardly patriotic!' BBC host SLAPS DOWN Remoaner who says anti-Brexit stance is patriotic
LABOUR PARTY MP Neil Coyle was slapped down after he made the extraordinary claim that anti-Brexit campaigners were Britain’s most “patriotic” activists.
Emma Barnett on migrant workers: It's hardly patriotic
Emma Barnett tore apart the Labour Remainer’s comments during a heated discussion on whether Brexit attributed to a drop in net migration figures.
On Thursday, it was announced net migration had dropped by a quarter, according to figures released by ONS.
The figures are 81,000 lower than the 327,000 recorded in March 2016, which Professor Portes claimed was because the UK is “less attractive” to European Union citizens.
MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark Neil Coyle claimed those campaigning against the UK’s divorce from the European Union were performing a patriotic act.
Brexit news: Emma Barnett slaps down Neil Coyle's anti-Brexit stance
It’s hardly patriotic if you want a load of people who aren’t from this country to stay here
BBC Newsnight host Barnett launched a scathing attack as she questioned his comments.
Reading a quote from Mr Coyle, Barnett said: “Did you, or did you not, tweet that ‘anti-Brexit are the real patriots’?”
Mr Coyle responded: “Absolutely.”
Barnett continued: “It’s hardly patriotic if you want a load of people who aren’t from this country to stay here and take jobs away from people who are British and born here, is it?
Professor: Britain failing to attract 'skilled' immigrants due to Brexit
“There are a finite amount of jobs, aren’t there?”
Mr Coyle claimed he doesn’t believe people are missing on employment because of European Union citizens taking up residence in the UK.
The Labour MP added: “If you look at the Food and Drink Federation report, a third of their members are worried about having to close as a result of not having British workers to fill those jobs.”
Barnett fired back, claiming UK employees should be willing to offer higher wages in order to attract British workers to the roles left vacant by EU citizens.
Mr Coyle concluded: “The reason I made that tweet about being a patriot because I am proud that people want to come to our country to live, to study, to work, to contribute.
"I’m proud to the contribution they’ve made to my constituency and to our country. I think we should be very worried about the people who are leaving and the message they’re sending and the jobs they’re taking out of our country because that’s the other side of this.
“To think these are people who are leaving jobs that are going to be filled British people is a mistake.
“Some of them are taking jobs that will simply not be replaced in this country.”