Suella Braverman has issued a warning to lawmakers, saying she “will not be hectored by out-of-touch lefties” with “accusations of bigotry” on her small boats policy.
Speaking during the second reading of the Illegal Migration Bill, the home secretary lashed out at individuals who had criticised the government’s new approach.
The second reading was approved by the Commons on Monday night following several hours of contentious debate with a majority of 62.
As a result, the proposed bill will now move on to the committee stage, where it will be thoroughly examined and potential revisions will be considered.
“I want to put something on the record, it’s perfectly respectable for a child of immigrants like me to say I’m deeply grateful to live here, to say that immigration has been overwhelmingly good for Great Britain but that we’ve had too much of it in recent years,” Ms. Braverman said in a statement to MPs on Monday.
“And to say that uncontrolled and illegal migration is simply bad.”
“Yet, despite our reasonable concerns we’ve raised on several occasions, I am subject to the most grotesque slurs for saying simple truths about the impact of unlimited and illegal immigration.”
“The worst among them poisoned by the extreme ideology of identity politics suggests that a person’s skin colour should dictate their political views.”
The home secretary added: “I will not be hectored by out of touch lefties or anyone for that matter.”
“I won’t be patronised on what appropriate views for someone of my background can hold. I will not back down when faced with spurious accusations of bigotry.”
“Politicians of all stripes should know better and they should choose their words carefully,” she said.
The contentious bill, which the UN agency for refugees has criticised as an effective “asylum ban,” made for a chaotic start to the second reading.
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