Boris Johnson: UK Population Will Hit 80 Million If We Stay In The EU

He challenged Remain to set out their "vision" for the UK

Boris Johnson today challenged those campaigning for the UK to stay in the EU to set out their pro-immigration vision for the country after figures showed 330,000 migrants came to Britain last year.

Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show this morning, the Brexit campaigner asked Remainers to explain where they would build the homes to cope with the population increase if migration continues at current levels.

Those wanting the UK to leave the EU claim the free movement of people across the continent is placing strain on public services and housing, and the only way to regain control is to vote to leave on June 23.

The former London Mayor said today: "The question the Remain campaign have to answer is what is their long term vision? What is their programme for the country if the numbers continue at this rate because at the moment, if we grow a city the size of Newcastle every year, we will see our population rise inexorably to about 70 or perhaps 80 million.

"Now, what the Remain campaign have to say is what's their vision for this? It may be a great vision for Britain by the way, it may be a positive thing, but where are they going to build the homes? What's going to happen to the Green Belt? How will it work for schools and hospitals and all the public services that will be affected?"

Johnson today also had defend a poster from Vote Leave which claimed "Turkey is joining the EU", despite Prime Minister David Cameron previously insisting it will be "decades" before the country becomes a member.

Johnson himself had previously been an advocate for Turkish membership of the EU, but today endorsed the poster.

He said: "Frankly, I don't mind whether Turkey joins the EU, provided the UK leaves the EU."

When asked about his previous support for Turkey becoming an EU member, he argued: "That was back in the days when some of us thought that widening the EU would not mean this federalising, centralising, deepening process that we have seen."

Johnson added: "The EU has changed out of all recognition since people like me first started advocating Turkish membership."

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