Jacob Rees-Mogg has warned that free movement with the EU would mean migrants who have arrived in France, Spain and Germany could then come over to the UK.
Speaking on GB News, he said: “The Prime Minister wishes to be clear and frank and straightforward with us, with an honest conversation…so are we to assume that everything he said previously was dishonest? I notice that when he was answering one of the questions, he said ‘to be honest’.
“‘Honest’ seems to be his key word that triggers him. But does it mean that if he doesn’t say he’s going to be honest, we can assume that he’s not? It always seems to me to be very odd to preface what you’re saying with, to be honest, because the implication must be if you haven’t used that preface, you’re not. And on this, he really hasn’t been.
“And what’s interesting about 2016 is that he went on about the effect that free movement had on his constituents. And where were his constituents? They were in Leigh in Greater Manchester.
“And since the boundary changes, some part of Leigh in Greater Manchester is now part of Makerfield so he’s representing the same people as he was then. But now he seems to like freedom of movement.
“What does freedom of movement mean? It means millions of people coming to this country who stay. According to the Migration Observatory, most people who came from the EU stay.
“The idea that they leave and people from the rest of the world go is not true, and we never managed to count them properly. When settled status came in, it was thought that about 2 million people would be entitled to it. Six and a half million, nearly, then applied for settled status with them and their dependents.
“And they of course become a burden on the country in the end because the dependents outweigh the ones who are actually working and contributing, and we’ve seen GDP per capita squeezed because of mass migration.
“And it’s not mass migration anymore that’s going to be coming from Poland. It’s not going to be that type of mass migration because the Polish economy is now almost as strong as ours.
“It’s going to be the migrants who’ve got into Europe in recent years and are then able to benefit from free movement. The million Syrians who went to Germany, the half million who’ve been given an amnesty in Spain, and how many millions there are in France. Once they’re fed up with rioting there, they’ll be heading across the Channel.
“Small boats are illegal. Free movement is legal. It would mean an enormous increase in migration just as we’ve got it under control. Let us all be honest. Let’s have this honest conversation.
“Andy Burnham wants mass migration. He doesn’t care about Makerfield. He didn’t care about Leigh. He says whatever it’s convenient for him to say. His closet must be so full of coats because he wants to turn them day by day.”