Politics
Catherine Shuttleworth
Sep 29, 2023
BBC Question Time
Labour MP Lisa Nandy was met with applause on this week's BBQ Question Time after calling out Home Secretary Suella Braverman's anti-immigration rhetoric.
Nandy, who is also the Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development, answered a question from Question Time host Fiona Bruce asking: "Do you agree - multiculturalism has failed says Suella Braverman?"
Nandy immediately said that she didn't agree, drawing on her experiences growing up in the 1980s "with an Indian-born dad and a British-born mum".
"When I heard our Home Secretary standing up this week talking about the children of foreign-born mothers, it took me right back to that era, when families like outs were constantly under attack from Tory politicians being told that we were the problem facing Britain," Nandy said, with many audience members nodding.
Nandy then went on to call immigration a "gift", citing the positive outcomes and experiences of immigration both from her personal life and society as a whole.
Continuing to criticise the government and Braverman, Nandy went on to ask: "If you're worried about integration, and people not speaking English, why are you putting English language classes so that there are huge waiting lists in every part of this country?"
She continued: "If you're worried about people fleeing persecution, war, climate change, why did you abolish DfID [Department for International Development] and trash one of the best things that this country has ever been able to give the world? If you're worried about the future of this country and people being able to have enough houses to live in, why is your housebuilding programme falling off a cliff, and why have you presided over the loss of houses, including social housing stock, over 13 consecutive years?"
"The problem facing this country is not people like me, [...] or our inability to understand one another. The problem facing this country have one cause and one cause alone: politicians like Suella Braverman and this Tory government."
Nandy was met by an uproar of applause over her comments, and many shared the two-minute clip on social media to praise her:
\ud83d\udd25This is powerful stuff by Lisa Nandy. \n\nWe are sick to the back teeth of the relentless demonisation of immigrants as a distraction, played by some politicians, from their own woeful lack of investment into our shared communities. \n\nEveryone should watch and share.— Mike Galsworthy (@Mike Galsworthy) 1695973741
The best comment I have seen on @bbcquestiontime for a very long time. \nLisa Nandy completely and utterly debunks the LIES of @suellabraverman.\nBravo!— \ud83c\uddef\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddf4\u200b\u200b\ud83c\udded\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddf3\u200b\u200b\ud83c\udd38\ud83c\udd3d\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddf7\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddf4\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddf2\u200b\u200b\ud83c\udde6\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddf3\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddee\u200b\u200b\ud83c\udde6\u200b (@\ud83c\uddef\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddf4\u200b\u200b\ud83c\udded\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddf3\u200b\u200b\ud83c\udd38\ud83c\udd3d\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddf7\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddf4\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddf2\u200b\u200b\ud83c\udde6\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddf3\u200b\u200b\ud83c\uddee\u200b\u200b\ud83c\udde6\u200b) 1695936030
Lisa Nandy is on fire \ud83d\udc47 \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25\nSuella Braverman utterly disgusted me with her foreign born mother rhetoric #bbcqt #ToriesOut449— Chirpy Chet (@Chirpy Chet) 1695938494
Even actor Eddie Marsan called Nandy "absolutely brilliant":
Thank you Lisa Nandy, absolutely brilliant.— Eddie Marsan (@Eddie Marsan) 1695974102
This is fucking magnificent from Lisa Nandy.\n\nThis is exactly the way Labour should be speaking in the run up to the General Election. We need to shine as many lights as possible on the populist blame games of this Tory shambles and put into sharp focus their utter failure.— Sarcastictvat (@Sarcastictvat) 1695971413
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