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1/4 I came across my interview with Jacob Rees-Mogg on 11th Feb, 2016. We talked–inevitably– about Brexit, and within that about immigration and refugees. This quote was filed, but didn’t make the final edit. I thought it was interesting in light of the debate raging today:
2/4 Rees-Mogg said he didn’t believe “broadly” that people come to Britain for benefits. “And I don’t like this view of immigrants. If you meet people that come from foreign countries, they’ve actually done something really rather remarkable.”
3/4 “They’ve left their friends and family, come to a country where they often don’t speak the language not because they are benefit scroungers, but because they want to make a better life. And that’s rather a noble thing to do, isn’t it?”
4/4 “It’s certainly a very Conservative thing to do. So to dismiss them and say ‘Oh well they’re just benefit scroungers, so if we take away a few benefits they won’t come,’ I don’t think treats them properly, but also it won’t be effective. So it’s a bad policy both ways round.”
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