Nick Ferrari challenges caller who doesn't want legally settled Albanians to return to UK

5 December 2022, 11:56 | Updated: 5 December 2022, 11:57

'That's not fairness': Nick Ferrari challenges LBC caller

After the release of a new report calling for a tougher approach to immigration, Nick Ferrari challenges this caller who says Albanians who have legally settled in the UK should not be allowed to return here if they leave for Albania.

A caller to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast on LBC said he does not want Albanians who have already settled in the UK to be able to leave and come back.

This comes after the release of a report from a centre-right think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies, called for a stronger approach to migration including the UK making similar offshore deals to the Rwanda one.

READ MORE: 'I'll do whatever it takes to tackle migrant crisis' vows Braverman after 40,000 cross Channel in 2022

Simon in Basingstoke said: “I think that Britain needs to start taking extreme measures with this.”

He added: “One of the things the government could do straight away is to ban all visas being issued to Albanian citizens, and also ensure that no Albanian citizens who are resident in the UK can travel to Albania and then return to the UK.”

Nick cut in: “Hang on, if we’ve got a legally settled Albanian here who wants to go back and say goodbye to grandma, we’ve got to let them back in Simon.”

“Why?” the caller asked.

“Because they’re legally settled”, Nick said with emphasis.

The Basingstoke caller asked: “Why should someone come here who then gets all the rights to a pension, to education, to free healthcare, to all the benefits of a British citizen, just because they’ve chosen to settle here?

Nick replied: “Simon, this is incriminatory tactics here. That’s not fairness.

“You’re pointing out something that is flawed and that has probably allowed in far too many people, and has not been effectively enforced.”

He continued: “Those who benefitted from that, you’re making them pay. I’m sorry sir, that to me is not particularly British.”

This conversation comes as Home Secretary Suella Braverman vowed to do “whatever it takes” to tackle what she has branded a migrant “invasion”, after 40,000 migrants crossed the Channel this year.

READ MORE: 'Invasion of the South Coast': Braverman admits illegal migration is 'out of control' as she fights to keep her job

She did not agree with all the points in the report from the Centre for Policy Studies.

However, she said: "The British public are fair-minded, tolerant and generous in spirit. But we are fed up with the continued flouting of our laws and immigration rules to game our asylum system.”