Conservative Shadow Education Minister Neil O'Brien has described proposals to give voting rights to illegal migrants as "appalling".
Speaking to GB News, O'Brien expressed strong opposition to the idea that "absolutely everybody should have the right to vote in our general elections".
In plans put forward by the Migration Democracy Project, a new report named 'What if Everyone Could Vote' proposed giving voting rights to 4.4 million migrants.
The report claimed: "Residence-based voting rights recognises that all members of our community are equal and deserve a political stake in their home – regardless of where they are born."
Neil O'Brien hit out at plans for millions of illegal migrants to be awarded the right to vote in the UK
GB News / PA
Speaking to GB News, Tory MP Neil O'Brien argued that people who "force their way into the country illegally" should not be rewarded with voting rights.
"I think we have to have citizenship in this country which means something," he stated.
He insisted that those who "have no stake in the future of this country" should not be permitted to participate in elections simply because they happen to be in the UK.
O'Brien suggested the UK "gives out citizenship much more readily" than European countries like Denmark.
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Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse has sponsored an event calling for millions of migrants to be allowed to vote in UK elections
PAO'Brien warned there are political motivations behind proposals to extend voting rights to illegal migrants: "There's a lot of politics behind this, to be honest with you.
"There's a lot of 'we're just going to change the electorate to change the country' and I find that very disturbing."
He clarified that the issue isn't related to Brexit, as most people who would gain voting rights under such proposals would be "coming from the rest of the world outside the EU".
The Conservative MP characterised such policies as "rewarding people for doing the wrong thing".
O'Brien told GB News that the move would 'reward people for doing wrong'
GB News
O'Brien concluded with a scathing attack on Prime Minister Keir Starmer's handling of Channel crossings: "Since Keir Starmer took office the number of people coming across the channel has exploded."
He fumed: "Despite all his stuff about smashing the gangs, ultimately the gangs are smashing him. There's more and more people coming.
"It has got literally worse under his time as prime minister. It was bad enough under us, and I think we should have been tougher."
A spokeswoman for Hobhouse told GB News: "These claims are totally false. Sponsoring this event was to enable a discussion around voting rights for people who have legally made their lives here, work here and pay their taxes."
The Migrant Democracy Project said: "Our current voter eligibility system is a complex labyrinth of bespoke historic deals with different countries and treaties that vary depending on where in the UK you are. It is a messy and unfair system.
"The UK needs electoral reform, and the people support this change. Residence-based voting rights recognises that all people are equal and deserve a political stake in their home – regardless of where they were born or their nationality."
