Conservative peer and former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine has described Saturday’s Unite the Kingdom rally as “sickening”. Speaking at the Gloucester History Festival yesterday afternoon, Heseltine said that those protesting against immigration in London “have a right to say it, but I have a right to be sickened by what they say”.

The large-scale demonstrations saw well over 100,000 people march through central London, though organizer Tommy Robinson claimed the real attendance figure was closer to three million. The Metropolitan Police said at least 25 protesters were arrested while 26 officers were injured. Labour minister Peter Kyle stressed that those responsible for violence constituted a “minority” who “should and will pay the price”, whereas the majority of those present showed that “free speech is alive and well” in the UK.

Heseltine, who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, criticized the rhetoric of Right-wing politicians such as “Trump and his voice in Britain, Farage”, who “talk about immigrants as rapists, as thieves”. The former Cabinet minister added that “there will be the odd incident by asylum seekers, yes, because human beings are human beings.” Saturday’s rally followed on from protests across Britain throughout this summer, often focused on asylum hotels. The initial demonstration took place outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, where an asylum seeker from Ethiopia was charged with sexual assault after attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl. The man, Hadush Kebatu, was convicted earlier this month.

The former deputy prime minister claimed on Sunday that “the overwhelming majority” of asylum seekers come to Britain “because they see standards of living here way beyond anything they could dream of where they are. Understandably, they want to share in that.” He added: “We may all think that we’re not well off, and that we’re getting worse off, and all of that. But to them, this is paradise on earth.”

While still a Tory MP in 2000, Heseltine said of the UK that “we have a serious problem with asylum seekers, many of whom are bogus.” He also pointed out that British citizens were “going without” housing and medical treatment to “make way for people who’ve cheated immigration rules”, and “who claim to be running away from tyrannical regimes when actually what they want to do is become part of the prosperity of our particular society”. Refugee groups criticized his “inflammatory and prejudiced” comments, while Labour ministers stated the remarks were “ill-informed”.

In a 2013 interview, Heseltine compared Nigel Farage, then-Ukip leader, to Marine Le Pen in France, describing the Eurosceptic party as “extreme”. According to the former Conservative minister, “picking up on immigration and suggesting there are simplistic solutions which no one else has thought of is an extremist position and panders to a certain section of society — in fact, it is designed to do so.” Last year, he accused Reform UK of “pandering to racism” and taking advantage of “public resentment about immigration”.

Speaking in Gloucester yesterday, Heseltine appealed to historical precedents: “The Romans built Hadrian’s Wall to keep the Scots out. They built rows of castles to keep the Welsh out. The Protestants and Catholics fought each other with the most vicious cruelty.” He also cited the treatment of “Jews in the Thirties” and the language of “Enoch Powell in the Sixties”, concluding: “it’s all about that uneasy racial tension.”

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is UnHerd’s Deputy Editor, Newsroom.

RobLownie

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