BBC Question Time drafted in an Afghan asylum seeker who reached the UK on a small boat to go up against Zia Yusuf last night. From the audience, he said:
“My first interview was in in Turkey and the second one in Macedonia, in Serbia, in Romania, Austria and recently in Germany, but then ended here. This country just reject me and they didn’t accept me. Everybody knows my country is not safe for for us.”
Presenter Fiona Bruce asked Zia Yusuf if he would deport that man:
“I think in in terms of broad strokes, let me be clear. If you’re entering a war zone, it’s generally men first. If you’re fleeing a war zone, it’s generally women and children first. And the vast majority of the people coming to this country via the English Channel illegally are men. If Nigel Farage is our next prime minister, and that’s obviously what we’re working to deliver. If you’re in this country illegally, you will be deported back to the country from which you came.”
A different position to Zack Polanski, who responded with “in an ideal world, we’d have open borders.” After that, an undocumented Iranian migrant then was given the floor to read out a list of reasons why the UK should not leave the ECHR. Raised a few eyebrows…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”