Susanna Reid has defended Rylan Clark over his recent immigration comments during a tense Good Morning Britain debate.
Clark received a social media backlash last week after voicing his views on the UK’s immigration policies while hosting This Morning.
On Tuesday (2 September), Reid stepped in when correspondent Kevin Maguire hit out at Clark for “regurgitating terrible myths” after the TV personality said there is “something wrong” with the way refugees are welcomed to the UK.
Interrupting Maguire, Reid replied: “Hang on. He pointed out that this country is built on immigration and he was grateful to all of the migrants who have come to the NHS for helping support his mum.
“He was actually concerned, though, that we’ve got a sort of welcome to the UK, and we don’t know who all of these people are.”
Reid said she thinks “it is the duty of the government, as the government itself would acknowledge, that we control borders and we do not just welcome everybody if we don’t know who they are”, adding that Clark did not want to share an anti-migration message.
Maguire replied: “He also regurgitated a load of myths and lies. Let’s not ignore that. Myths and lies have gone mainstream, and we’ve got to challenge that, we’ve got to push back on that.”
Reid disagreed with Maguire’s claim that Rylan was ”regurgitating propaganda” and continued to defend Clark.
Speaking on This Morning on Wednesday 27 August, Clark had noted how doctors and nurses from “other countries” saved his mother Linda’s life when she fell ill earlier this year.
“They’re living a great life, they’re paying into this tax system, they’re helping this country thrive,” he said.
But he added that it is “absolutely insane” that asylum seekers are risking their lives to come to the UK – and that there is “something wrong” with the way refugees are welcomed.
“Here’s the iPad. Here’s the NHS in reception of your hotel. Here’s three meals a day. Here’s a games room in the hotel. Have a lovely time and welcome.”
Clark continued: “How can it be that if I turn up at Heathrow Airport as a British citizen and I’ve left my passport in Spain, I’ve got to stand at that airport and won’t be let in. But if I arrive on a boat from Calais, I get taken to a four-star hotel?”
In a response to the backlash, Clark said you can be “pro immigration and against illegal routes”.
Hours after his opinion was condemned online, he wrote on Instagram: “Stop with this putting everyone in a box and maybe have conversations instead of shouting on Twitter.
“You can be pro immigration and against illegal routes. You can support trans people and have the utmost respect for women. You can be heterosexual and still support gay rights. This list continues.”
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