AN audience member on BBC Question Time was applauded as he took aim at “dehumanising” language on asylum seekers used by the panel.
Thursdays episode in Northwitch, Cheshire featured Minister of State for Skills Jacqui Smith alongside Conservative MP Danny Kruger and GB News contributor Matthew Goodwin.
Alongside them was Liberal Democrat MP Lisa Smart and left wing commentator George Monbiot.
During a discussion on whether denying citizenship to those entering the UK "illegally" would reduce the number of people trying to get in, host Fiona Bruce called on one audience member who said he found it “disgusting” the way political parties were discussing asylum seekers.
He said: “It’s not illegal to claim asylum in a foreign country. Saying they’re illegal immigrants it’s not…they’re asylum seekers and refugees.”
He continued: “Illegal immigrants tend to be people who come here legally and overstay a visa or they overstay and application.
“They’re not people that are fleeing war. Other countries closer to the Middle East tend to take on a lot more than we ever do. It’s the element of calling these people the invaders or dehumanising them so we can point a finger at them and say [they're] the reason we’ve got a housing shortage.”
Good morning to this man, & this man only. #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/o3he9NniyG
— Zoe Gardner (@ZoeJardiniere) February 14, 2025
He was then applauded as he finished: “I don’t understand why people like to claim that immigrants are the problem when it’s been recent successive governments that have always been the problem.”
Responding, Danny Krueger emphasised “[These people] are arriving here illegally.
“We have an obligation to the needy of the world, to the needy to the dispossessed and people fleeing torture.
"There are 100 million people in this world that would qualify for refugee status. Are you suggesting that should those people make it to our shores they should be allowed to live here?”
