Tory MP says Germany is 'bonkers' for giving asylum to refugees fleeing to Europe
Adam Holloway said his view was not xenophobic
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Your support makes all the difference.European countries offering asylum to refugees fleeing to the West are “bonkers”, a Conservative MP has said.
Adam Holloway said it should be made “absolutely clear” that people travelling to Europe would not be allowed in and said this was no a xenophobic position.
“I think the prime minister is completely right when he says that receiving ever more people is simply not the answer,” he told the House of Commons on Tuesday.
“I think much of the EU and the Germans are completely bonkers if they give ever-growing numbers of refugees and migrants, picked up in the Mediterranean or elsewhere the right to settle in Europe.
“There are hundreds of millions of people in the borderlands of Europe who are poor or affected by war wanting better lives for their families
“I think we’ve got to make it absolutely clear that you’ll not be allowed to live in Europe if you try to get into Europe by the back door.”
Mr Holloway argued that refugees should be given a place to stay in the region where they were fleeing, adding: “This isn’t xenophobic – I think it’s moral, practical, fair and sustainable.”
Mr Holloway also complained that he was not able to get a haircut because his barber was a refugee who had been away to visit his home country.
“We have people in his country who have come here, have claimed asylum, and then they go back on holiday in the places where they claims asylum from. I couldn't have my haircut the other day for that reason,” he said.
Germany has said it will take 800,000 refugees this year, orders of magnitude more than the 20,000 that David Cameron has said the UK would accept over the next five years.
The country’s vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said earlier today that it could take roughly half a million asylum seekers for several years to come.
Most other European countries have also taken significantly more refugees than the UK, even smaller countries.
In Finland, the country’s prime minister opened his home to asylum seekers and pledged to take 30,000 refugees this year – more than the UK is planning to take in five.
France will accept 24,000 migrants over two years, significantly more than Britain.
People have gathered at railway stations in Germany with supplies and welcome parcels for refugees, with mass street demonstrations stagged under the banner "refugees welcome".
A YouGov poll conducted on 3 and 4 September shows a sharp shift in public opinion in favour of the UK acting as a safe haven, with 41 per cent now in favour and 34 per cent now opposed - a huge 24 point shift in attitudes on a previous survey.
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