Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has hit out at Rishi Sunak’s decision to call an election, branding it “cowardly”.
The Prime Minister announced outside 10 Downing Street yesterday that the vote will take place on 4 July.
According to Anderson, Sunak opted to hold the election as soon as possible to avoid the risk of a flurry of migrant Channel crossings through the summer.
Such a development would further damage Sunak’s reputation in the eyes of the British public, the Reform MP argued on GB News.
Lee Anderson hit out at Rishi Sunak's 'cowardly' move
PA / GB NEWS
“The plan is not working”, he told Tom Harwood.
“The figures show a 75 per cent collapse in dependent visas for social care workers and for students.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Rishi Sunak announced an election on July 4GB News
Lee Anderson joined Jacob Rees-Mogg and Tom Harwood on GB News
GB NEWS
“January migration is decent, we’ve got a short campaign now with six weeks to the general election.
“We’re going to see good weather and more people crossing the Channel. This is an absolute nightmare for the Prime Minister.
“Calling this election at this time is a little bit cowardly because if it goes on much longer to November or December, at a time we’ve had a whole summer full of illegal migrants crossing the Channel, which would prove once again that the Rwanda plan is not working.”
In his Downing Street statement, the Prime Minister said the election would be a question of trust.
He warned that his opponent, Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party would not be the force to lead the country through “uncertain” times.
He added: “On July 5, either Sir Keir Starmer or I will be prime minister. He has shown time and time again that he will take the easy way out and do anything to get power.
“If he was happy to abandon all the promises he made to become Labour leader once he got the job, how can you know that he won’t do exactly the same thing if he were to become prime minister?
“If you don’t have the conviction to stick to anything you say, if you don’t have the courage to tell people what you want to do and if you don’t have a plan, how can you possibly be trusted to lead our country, especially at this most uncertain of times?”
At a Tory rally on Wednesday night, he said “the only certainty with Labour is that they will run out of money” and Sir Keir’s pledge to scrap the Rwanda plan would “enact a de facto amnesty for asylum seekers, making us a magnet for every illegal immigrant in Europe”.
“In every way, Labour would make our country less secure,” he claimed.