Rishi Sunak suggests Gary Lineker’s views not in keeping with British public
Gary Lineker #GaryLineker
Rishi Sunak has suggested Gary Lineker is out of touch with the British public and hopes he will recognise that the Government’s illegal immigration crackdown is “the right approach”.
Speaking as he travelled on Eurostar to a bilateral summit with president Emmanuel Macron in Paris, the Prime Minister said the support for the plans to detain and deport nearly all migrants entering the UK illegally had shown it was a strategy that the British public wanted.
Although he did not name the BBC sports presenter by name, he said the more people thought about the plans, they would recognise that it was the only way to combat illegal migration.
Asked whether he felt Mr Lineker’s comparison of the plans to pre-war Nazi Germany was justified and if he should be sacked from the BBC, Mr Sunak replied: “I strongly believe that what we’re doing is the right thing to do. I think it’s the fair thing to do and I actually believe that it’s the moral and compassionate thing to do, and I’ve made that argument multiple times.
“I’ll continue to make it and I think actually the more people think about this challenge and how best to address it they will see that it is the right approach.
“And actually I was pleased that there was general, actually quite a lot of strong support for the approach we’ve outlined now that we’ve outlined it.”
“Because this is about thinking what’s the best way to help the world’s most vulnerable people, which is something that the British public have demonstrated time and time again that they want to do, and no one can say that that’s not the case.”
Mr Sunak cited the 500,000 people welcomed from Syria, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Ukraine as a demonstration of Britain’s “compassionate” approach to the worldwide migrant crisis which will include legal and safe routes for refugees, with an annual cap, agreed by Parliament.
“It’s right that we’re able to help the world’s most vulnerable people, that’s what everyone wants to do and that’s what I want to do and we’re not going to be able to do that if we persist with a system that’s overwhelmed by people coming here illegally who are not the most vulnerable.
“There’s nothing compassionate about that, especially if some of them are dying in the process, so that’s why I think what we’re doing is right. The situation is getting worse and worse and that’s what I believe. We have to act and this is the right thing to do.”
Asked whether the Gary Linekers of the world realise they’ve got it wrong, he said: “I hope everyone over time realises that this is the right approach because we’ve looked at lots of different things, tried lots of other ways, as I’ve said, and nothing else has worked.
“And having looked at this long and hard myself, I’m confident this is the best and right approach to solve this problem, which I think everyone acknowledges is a challenge and it’s one of my five priorities because I think it’s undoubtedly something that the country thinks is important and needs resolving.
“The question is how do you resolve it in a way that’s fair, compassionate and can resolve it and that’s what I think our approach does.”
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