John Lydon has bemoaned the current state of "rundown" Britain and its approach to immigration ahead of his upcoming tour.
Reminiscing about his childhood going to the British seaside, Lydon has slammed the way in which "prospective immigrants" who've made it to UK shores have created "divisions" among local communities.
He also took aim at the government for allowing these migrants into the country "in such vast numbers" due to the "animosity" the influx has sparked.
"Britain today is so, so catastrophically disappointing," Lydon began in a recent interview. "A lot of this tour that I'm doing will be in seaside towns and they really indicate how rundown Britain has become.
"Those used to be fantastic places when I was a kid - mum and dad would drag us off there for what felt like hours in a traffic jam but it was absolutely great.
"It was working-class people throwing sand at each other, it was excellent. The environment was economically thriving, I suppose... it was vibrant."
John Lydon has taken aim at today's Great Britain - particularly its approach to migration
GETTY
Turning his attention to nowadays, Lydon continued: "(Now) it seems to be full of what they term prospective immigrants, which are really like illegals not being cared for properly.
"But then they shouldn't have been accepted in such vast numbers because it's created a real animosity in communities.
"The division when you import so many people with a different point of view - they're not going to adapt to yours, they're going to stay and bring the problems that they're allegedly escaping from with them."
When quizzed on his own Irish heritage by LBC presenter Andrew Marr, Lydon replied: "The first thing my mum and dad would ever tell me when I was very young was, 'You're British now, be British and be proud of it!' Most excellent advice and I followed through."
“The seaside seems to be full of illegals, that shouldn’t have been accepted in such vast numbers. It’s created a real animosity in communities, when you import so many people”
— Martin Daubney 🇬🇧 (@MartinDaubney) March 8, 2024
A reminder why John Lydon is one of the Greatest Living Britons 👏🏻🇬🇧
pic.twitter.com/E7ajktzhty
Lydon's remarks have since been viewed thousands of times on X, formerly Twitter, with many applauding the Sex Pistols star for his honest account.
GB News star Martin Daubney was just one fan who praised: "A reminder why John Lydon is one of the Greatest Living Britons."
A second X user penned: "John Lydon spoke the truth on @LBC, the plain truth. Telling the truth IS punk these days. He’s got more balls than most!!"
"Could you please point out the bit where he was wrong?" a third questioned before a fourth simply put: "He's 100% correct."
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John Lydon has slammed the state of 'rundown' Britain
LBC
However, others weren't impressed with Lydon's take on the migrant crisis, including one who argued: "John Lydon provides this year's least punk interview. Son of Irish migrants and Irish passport holder, Lydon migrated to the USA decades ago and has taken out US citizenship. And without a shred of self-awareness, he asserts that immigration is destroying Britain."
And a second claimed: "This has nothing to do with migrants. You will always have people who have animosity against others.
"If you took migrants out of the equation, you’d still have groups of people forming cliques and critiquing/picking on someone that is different to their own perceived ‘norms’." (sic)
Lydon's comments come just days after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) bumped its net migration forecasts from 240,000 to 315,000 for each year up to 2028 – an increase of 70,000 people and a 28 per cent increase since its last forecast in autumn.
