Lee Anderson spoke for Britain telling illegal migrants to ‘f*** off’, says minister

Downing Street today backed Lee Anderson after he said migrants refusing to board the Bibby Stockholm barge should “f*** off back to France”.

The Conservative Party deputy chairman made the comments after lawyers blocked around 20 asylum seekers, who were helped by refugee charity Care4Calais, from being moved to the giant vessel off the Dorset coast yesterday.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk this morning said Mr Anderson – known as the Red Wall Rottweiler – spoke for the British people with his remarks.

And No 10 said Mr Chalk was speaking for the Government when he defended the Ashfield MP.

The senior minister stepped in after Mr Anderson told Express.co.uk: “If they don’t like barges then they should f*** off back to France.”

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But the comments provoked a storm of outrage from leftwingers including former shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott.

In an interview this morning on LBC, Mr Chalk was challenged by presenter Nick Ferrari, a columnist for the Sunday Express, over the words chosen by Mr Anderson.

But Mr Chalk defended the “robust” approach of his colleague.

The Justice Secretary said: “Lee Anderson expresses the righteous indignation of the British people. Yes, he does it in salty terms, that’s his style. But his indignation is well placed.”

He went on: “People are coming from a safe country. France is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

“People should claim asylum in the first country, it is not just like an open shopping list of where you want to go.

“So he expresses himself in his characteristically robust terms but there is a lot of sense in my respectful view of what he said.”

Mr Anderson was also defended by his fellow red wall MP Brendan Clarke-Smith who is no stranger to fury directed by leftwingers on Twitter.

The Bassetlaw MP said: “Whilst Labour MPs are busy signing letters demanding we drag dangerous criminals off planes because of their human rights, people like Lee are speaking up for the rest of the country who are fed up seeing our immigration system being cheated.

“If they are upset again then it shows he must be doing something right.”

Mr Chalk also said that the barge is supposed to put people off from coming to the UK illegally.

Speaking to Times Radio he did not deny the allegations from Care4Calais and others on the left that the accommodation is much more basic than hotels.

But Mr Chalk said deterrents are needed to stop the small boats.

More than 15,000 illegal migrants have so far crossed the Channel this year.

Asked about it being a deterrent, Mr Chalk said: “I don’t think that’s something that we should shrink from being clear about.

“Of course we want to be clear about what happens if people come to this country, and that’s the whole purpose of the Illegal Migration Act.

“If you do come here unlawfully, you will be detained and you will be returned either to your home country or to a safe country.”