TORY MP Laura Trott left one of the panellists on Question Time with his head in his hands following her response to a question about immigration.
On last night’s Question Time, the first topic put to guests asked: “What is the right level of immigration?”
It comes as net migration levels reach a record high with figures from the Office for National Statistics showing overall migration into the UK for 2022 was 606,000.
Trott, who has served as the MP for Sevenoaks since 2019, said the Tories “had a plan to get immigration down”.
She also led an attack on Labour for their stance on immigration.
Fiona Bruce repeatedly asks Conservative MP Laura Trott, that of the work visas issued, who they would not like to come to the UK. She repeatedly ignores the question.
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) May 25, 2023
You have to watch this to believe it. #BBCQT - Follow for more. pic.twitter.com/NThunvaIfd
“They went into the last election saying they wanted freedom of movement. As recently as 2020, Keir Starmer said he wanted to defend free movement.
“So migration is too high at the moment, we’ve got a plan to get it down.”
Also appearing on the show was Theo Paphitis, known for his appearances on the BBC business programme Dragons’ Den.
He was left bemused by Trott’s response, saying: “I’ve never been disappointed when a politician comes on, gets asked a question and the first thing they do rather than answer the question is attack the opposition.”
This was met with applause from the audience. “It was a question that needed an answer”, Paphitis added.
READ MORE: easyJet: Airline launches new route from Glasgow to Southampton
He explained that the UK has a “massive skillset issue” and that the UK would “only be competitive” by bringing in people with the right skillsets.
The conversation later turned to work visas with the latest figures showing that 1.47 million were issued in the year to March 2023, up 53% from last year.
Host Fiona Bruce asked Trott: “On the work visas, who would you not want coming here?”
Trott dodged the question with Bruce pressuring her to answer.
She did give an answer about HGV drivers and explained that it was “really important that we have more training for people within the UK”.
The host continued to press the MP, once again asking who she would like to see not to come.
Bruce said: “Of those coming now, who can you see would, because you’ve been in government 13 years now, who can you see that you would like not to come in order to get the numbers down?”
Trott continued to repeat that she had given the example of lorry drivers and that she would like “lots of jobs to be done by British people where that’s possible”, leaving Paphitis with his head in his hands.
Labour’s Peter Kyle also hit back, saying that it was only until the UK got the “basics of running the country right” that migration levels could come down.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel