Robert Jenrick says he would go about putting the wheels in motion for a new bill on mass migration on “day one” of becoming Tory leader if elected.
He told GB News’s Camilla Tominey that he would bring to Parliament a proposal for a legal cap on migration.
“Day one, I would bring to Parliament a proposal for a legal cap on migration”, he said.
“That would be tens of thousands of people or lower.”
Robert Jenrick set out his plan to tackle migration
GB NEWS
Camilla questioned Jenrick’s plans, saying some might brand them “ridiculous” due to much of the Britain’s key sectors being comprised of a high quantity of migrant workers like the NHS.
He responded: “I don’t pretend that ending mass migration will be plain sailing, but I do think it’s in the national interest to do it.
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“I think it has to be linked to welfare reform. I believe in a safety net, but I think far too many people are on welfare, and we need to help our own people back into the dignity of work.
“We need to get those people working in those sectors. Eight out of ten people working in social care are British people.
“What we’ve seen in recent years is that because we haven’t been prepared to pay British workers a bit more, we’re bringing in people from overseas, displacing those British workers.”
Jenrick went onto say he would look to leave the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) if he becomes Tory leader.
Migrants aboard a small boatPA“I don’t come to this ideologically, I come to it practically”, he said.
“I have seen as a minister in the Foreign Office how difficult it is, in fact it’s impossible, how difficult it is impossible, to secure our borders and remove dangerous people from our country.
“Foreign national offenders, rapists, murderers and surveying and removing terrorists is difficult while with the ECHR.
“I think we have to do this. It can’t be reformed. That was akin to David Cameron trying to reform the EU, which couldn’t be done.”
Jenrick joined Camilla Tominey on GB News
GB NEWS
Other contenders for the Tory leadership are Tom Tugendhat, Priti Patel, Mel Stride, James Cleverly and Kemi Badenoch.
The battle for the future of the party has hotted up in recent days and the candidates are set to each make their case at the Conservative Party conference, which runs from September 29 to October 2.
The final two, picked by the parliamentary party, will then go to a vote of Conservative Party members in an online ballot that will close on October 31 with the result announced on November 2.