Tories made catastrophic error on immigration - MP

Sir Edward Leigh said last week's local elections ended in a "catastrophic result" for his party

The Conservatives must be as "robust" as Reform UK on immigration, a senior Tory MP has said.

Sir Edward Leigh, the long-serving MP for Gainsborough, described last week's local election results as "catastrophic" for his party.

Reform's Dame Andrea Jenkyns became the first mayor of Greater Lincolnshire following the vote on 1 May, while the party also took control of Lincolnshire County Council from the Conservatives.

However, when asked if he would consider joining Reform, Sir Edward said that although he agreed with "most, if not all" of their policies, he would not be swapping parties.

In an appearance on The Hot Seat, on BBC Radio Lincolnshire, Sir Edward said he had spoken to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch to ask for stronger policies on illegal immigration.

He said his party had failed in its pledge to prevent migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats and described it as a "catastrophic error".

Sir Edward said: "You've got to say that if you try and enter this country illegally, then you've got to be arrested and deported.

"We've got to have as tough a line as Reform."

He also expressed concerns about the extent of legal migration allowed when the Conservatives were in government.

"We felt to keep the NHS going we had to allow all these quite low-paid care workers to come in from all over the world, so there was a reason for it," he said.

"But of course it got totally out of control."

'We're being punished'

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed net migration – the number of people coming to the UK, minus the number leaving – reached a record high of 906,000 in the 12 months to June 2023, then fell to 728,000 in the year to June 2024.

According to the figures, about 8% of migrants who were non-EU nationals claimed asylum in the 12 months to June 2024..

Sir Edward added: "We did it, we are now being blamed, we are being punished, quite rightly in my view."

Sir Edward spoke to Sean Dunderdale for the latest Hot Seat interview

Following her election victory, Dame Andrea called for migrants to be housed in tents instead of hotels.

However, while Sir Edward said his party needed to be tougher on immigration, he said: "I don't think the answer is putting them in tents.

"I've got nothing against any migrant. These are desperate people, poor people, impoverished people, suffering under horrible regimes."

The Conservatives have proposed measures including the introduction of an annual cap on migration and doubling the residency requirement for indefinite leave to remain in the UK from five to 10 years.

The party also wants to "disapply" the Human Rights Act from immigration-related matters, to prevent people challenging deportations in court.

'Fear of change'

Speaking about the NHS, Sir Edward said he favoured the French healthcare system of social insurance – a system that reimburses a significant portion of healthcare costs.

He said leading politicians were "terrified" of changing the way the NHS was funded and called for an open debate.

Reform has said it would boost private healthcare and insurance by bringing in 20% tax relief for the sector. It claimed this would relieve pressure on the NHS, provide competition and reduce costs.

Speaking on BBC Question Time in May last year, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the NHS was not working any more and required a fundamental rethink of funding and organisation.

However, when asked by presenter Sean Dunderdale why he would not be joining Farage, Sir Edward – who holds the honorary title of father of the House of Commons – said he wanted to persuade the Conservatives to move in his direction.

"I believe that I should stay in the Conservative party, be loyal to the people who have voted for me in 11 general elections, and persuade the party to my point of view," he said.

"I am persuading them and we are moving the direction that people want to move on issues such as immigration, so I'm going to stay a Conservative."

The government is due to release a white paper setting out its plans to reduce migration in the coming weeks.

The Conservative party has been contacted for comment.

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