A sitting Tory MP has publicly blasted Boris Johnson after the former Prime Minister attempted to defend his record on immigration. Mr Johnson took to The Sun yesterday evening to hit back at Reform, after Nigel Farage began campaigning to undo the “Boriswave” of immigrants that flooded into the country under on his watch.
Mr Johnson insisted that voters are only angry at illegal immigration, accusing Reform of wanting to deport nurses from Britain. He insisted: “What [Britons] voted for was full legal control, and that’s what they got. If we want zero nurses, if we want nobody to come in for social care, we can. That’s our ability. Now we have full legal control.”
While Reform hit back, a sitting Tory MP has become an unsuspecting source of furious criticism of his former party’s leader.
Jack Ranking, the MP for Windsor, said he is “dumbfounded” by Mr Johnson’s defence.
Mr Ranking blasted: “The gigantic increase in non-European immigration caused by Boris’ policies was a betrayal of Brexit, a betrayal of voters, and has caused immense economic and cultural harm.
“This issue is the number one reason for the cratering of trust in my party and, more importantly, is pulling deeply at the social contract in our country. The Boriswave must be undone: [Indefinite Leave to Remain] needs immediate reform.
“Boris was the only man who could deliver in 2019, and that leadership and ability protected our democracy, but this lack of remorse is shocking.
Responding to Reform’s new policy of abolishing indefinite leave to remain and forcing all migrants to reapply for work visas with stricter requirements, Mr Johnson told the Sun: “Who are you going to kick out the Ukrainians. You want to kick out the Hong Kong Chinese… you want to kick out the nurses?”
A spokesman for Reform UK said: “The Boriswave was the biggest betrayal in modern political history.
“No wonder he wants to attack us after we exposed his terrible record in office.
“Reform UK will clean up Boris Johnson‘s mess. He is in denial about his own record and desperately out of touch.”
During Mr Johnson’s premiership, millions of people from outside of the EU flooded into Britain.
Inwards migration stood at 737,000 in the year ending June 2021, 1.1 million the year ending June 2022, and 1.32 million the year ending June 2023.
While this number has come down in recent years, according to YouGov 71% of Britons believe immigration is still too high.
