SUCK IT UP

As highlighted in my book, Turbo Brexit (page 77), in an exchange in the House of Commons between the Tory MP Anna Soubry and the Labour MP Caroline Flint in June 2018, Soubry sounded forth on the issue of immigration and Brexit. Soubry took particular exception to any notion that there was a case to end mass immigration, and her attitude towards those who complained about immigration was openly contemptuous. Soubry explained:

‘It is often quite peculiarly unique, and perhaps a little bizarre, that those who complain most about immigration are in areas where there is actually very little of it. That is the point: it is about the fear of the stranger – the fear of the unknown – and we have a duty as Members of Parliament to make the positive case in our constituencies for immigration and to have these debates with our constituents.’

Soubry further opined:

‘We do control immigration. How do we control it? It is called the market. Overwhelmingly, people come here to work. When we do not have the jobs, they simply do not come.’

Having established this latest variant in free market economics, in which there is no differentiation between legal and illegal immigration, or any account taken of the need for social cohesion or of the vast costs arising out of mass immigration in the form of unpaid bills, such as for housing, schools, the NHS etc (ie Ponzi economics), Soubry proceeded to dismiss any idea that the interests and views of ordinary people should be taken into consideration:

‘The huge danger of the argument being advanced by some Opposition Members, as the hon. Member for Streatham (Chuka Umunna) said, is that people play into a narrative that, instead of looking at other factors in life, turns to the stranger and – history tells us the danger of doing this – blames the foreigner, the unknown and the person with a different coloured skin or a different accent, when there are actually other reasons for the discomforts and the problems people have in their lives.

I say to Opposition Members that they should be proud of their fine tradition. What they should be doing is making the case for immigration and then saying this: “Suck it up!” No alternative has been advanced in this place other than the customs union and the single market. Let’s grab it – let’s do it and move on.’

In a recent exchange with an angry pro-Brexit activist as she walked along the pavement with her assistants and police officers, Soubry declined to tell the activist he should ‘suck it up’. She did not stoop so low as to accord his anger any validity. Instead, she subsequently complained to the police, who had seen nothing wrong at the time. The activist was arrested, and released on bail.

This is what Britain has come to.