Rishi Sunak was asked on live TV if he was “mortified” by Suella Braverman’s controversial comments about immigration.
The home secretary said the west was facing a “hurricane” of migrants in the years to come during her speech to the Tory conference.
Appearing on ITV’s this morning, the prime minister was asked by presenter Dermot O’Leary for his thoughts on Braverman’s rhetoric.
In particular, he expressed concern about her use of the word “hurricane”.
“Are you not embarrassed and ashamed when you hear words like that? Because I’m meeting you for the first time and you seem like a decent guy” O’Leary asked.
The prime minister responded: “I think that this debate gets charged a lot where people focus on one thing. So, if you just take a step back, what do I think we all agree on? We all agree that Britain is incredibly welcoming place. We haven’t failed in any way.”
O’Leary said: “Are you not mortified? That’s evil. It’s not a good word.“
Sunak replied: “They are being exploited by criminal gangs. And that’s why I’ve said it’s got to be ... the British people who decide who comes to our country and not criminal gangs. They are exploiting vulnerable people.”
O’Leary did not let Sunak off the hook, adding, “It’s this weaponising of the word that worries me. It’s demonising the people that come here in the first place.
“It’s an issue, of course it is. It’s the incendiary use of that word, that I think most people find unhelpful and harmful because it’s not the people who are coming here’s fault.”
Failing to answer the question, Sunak replied, “I think your viewers probably feel that there is an enormous sense of frustration that there are tens of thousands of people who have come here illegally over the past few years, and that’s not right.
“And I think most people in their local community may now have a hotel that’s been put over to house illegal migrants that’s costing taxpayers.”
Meanwhile, the PM also sent well-wishes to This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby after a man was charged over an alleged plot to kidnap the presenter.
On Friday morning, it was reported that the daytime star was “under police guard at her home” after “sinister” messages were found on a man’s phone reportedly threatening to “seriously harm” the daytime TV presenter.
Sunak said he was “so sorry to hear about everything that is going on with Holly”.
“I wanted to send my best to her and her family and to all of you,” the PM added.