US vice president JD Vance has encouraged opponents of immigration in the UK to “keep on going” and called on Britain to follow America in protecting its borders.
Rejecting claims of racism, the Republican politician said it was “OK to want to defend your culture” and reasonable for people “to want to control who comes into their country”.
US President Donald Trump has also been previously been critical of the UK on the issue, branding the country’s immigration policies “insane” and claiming Britain was being “invaded”.
Mr Vance made his comments at a White House press briefing where he was asked about last weekend’s Unite the Kingdom march in central London organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, attended by tens of thousands.
Held at the same time as a pro-Palestine protest, the two demonstrations sparked a huge £4.5 million police operation and saw dozens of arrests.
Asked about the recent Unite The Kingdom rally, where the news conference heard people were “protesting (against) mass illegal immigration and the replacement of British culture”, Mr Vance said: “One of the problems that we have in all of Western societies is that we have a lot of people who’ve decided – Wall Street bankers, corporate lobbyists, and government officials – that what the United States and what the West need is more and more cheap labour.
“What we believe in this White House is what we need more and more of is high wages for American workers and investing in our own people.
“What you see all over the West, and it’s kind of crazy, is this idea that the way to generate prosperity is to bring in millions and millions of unvetted people and drop them in your neighbourhoods, and we simply reject that idea.
“So, to everybody in the UK who rejects that idea, I’d encourage them to just keep on going.”
The former US senator added: “It’s OK to want to defend your culture. It’s OK to want to live in a safe neighbourhood. It’s OK to want your job to go to yourself and your neighbours, and not to a stranger who you don’t even know.
“It is reasonable for the people in Western societies to want to control who comes into their country and who doesn’t.
“A lot of people, frankly, a lot of people in the media, have tried to persuade all of those people that it’s somehow racist to want to protect your borders, even though very often the very people who are most affected by low-wage immigration are lower-income black and Hispanic Americans right here in the United States of America, and I guarantee that’s true in the UK.
“So, we believe in making America great again. You can’t do that unless you protect your borders. I’d encourage our friends in the UK to follow the same path.”
Mr Vance also took the opportunity to have a dig at Democrat opponents, who took part in “No Kings” protests against the president, only to enthusiastically clap a real King, when Charles gave a speech to Congress during his recent state visit.
He said: “One of the great ironies of this job is that for the past couple of years you see these protests break out all over the country, and sometimes you know they’re fairly well attended and sometimes they’re very poorly attended.
“Everybody holds these signs saying, ‘No Kings’.
“How many Democratic lawmakers have I seen holding up signs that say, ‘No Kings’. They are very, very insistent that we not have kings. And then King Charles comes to the congressional chamber, and these guys break out in rapturous applause.
“So, maybe they don’t care so much about kings as they pretend that they do. Maybe they just don’t like the agenda that we’re implementing that’s actually making American workers and American families safe and prosperous again.”
