The chief of the right-wing Reform UK celebration has been accused of “reminiscent of the Nineteen Forties” after he stated excessive ranges of immigration have been “altering the character of our nation”.
Richard Tice clashed with Christine McAnea, normal secretary of the Unison commerce union, on BBC 1′s ‘Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg’.
The row got here after official figures confirmed internet migration – the distinction between the numbers getting into and leaving the UK – hit 672,000 within the 12 months to June.
Tice stated that was “altering the character of our nation, making us poorer financially and it’s making us poorer culturally”.
However McAnea stated: “After I hear individuals saying issues like ‘it can have an effect on our nation culturally’ – and I’ve heard you say it earlier than – I don’t even know what which means as a result of we’re a rustic the place individuals come from all around the world.
″I’m the grandchild of migrants from Eire and my tradition of in all probability very totally different from yours. It’s an appalling method to flip issues right into a tradition conflict on this nation.”
Requested what he meant, Tice replied: “That sense of Britishness, who we’re, our heritage, our historical past, our Christian values and ethos. That’s the base of our single British tradition and that’s what we wish individuals to unify beneath.
“We welcome smart ranges of immigration, however mass immigration – individuals residing in silos, totally different cultures, will not be good for our nation.”
McAnea hit again: “That is like reminiscent of the Nineteen Forties or Nineteen Fifties.”
However Tice stated that was “absolute nonsense”.