Suella Braverman pushes for lower migration at conference hit by protests

Suella Braverman has said that training UK workers as fruit pickers and lorry drivers is one way to bring immigration numbers down, ITV News political reporter Carl Dinnen reports

By Lewis Denison, ITV News Westminster Producer

Suella Braverman has suggested the UK should train its own workforce of fruit pickers and lorry drivers rather than import foreign labour, in a speech that was expected to focus on immigration but repeatedly referenced other divisive issues.

The home secretary, whose speech at the National Conservatism Conference was interrupted by Extinction Rebellion protesters, said "we need to get overall immigration numbers down and we mustn’t forget how to do things for ourselves".

It comes ahead of official figures released later in May that are expected to show net migration of between 650,000 and 997,000.

Ms Braverman claimed “there is no good reason why we can’t train up enough HGV drivers, butchers or fruit pickers".

"Brexit enables us to build a high-skilled, high wage economy that is less dependent on low-skilled foreign labour."

It is not clear whether there is appetite among British workers to fill vacancies in the farming and logistics sector, however visa requirements have been relaxed numerous times since the UK left the EU, to encourage low-skilled foreign labour in those industries.

Her speech was viewed as a warning to Cabinet colleagues against relaxing immigration visa rules amid reports unions have been lobbying the government to do so.

Ms Braverman - the architect of the controversial Illegal Migration Bill, which will automatically deport almost everyone who crosses the English Channel in a small boat - said "you cannot have immigration without integration."

She attacked what she described as an "unexamined drive towards multiculturalism" as a "recipe for communal disaster".

"People who come here should embrace and respect this country. They must not commit crimes. They may practise any faith or none, and they need to respect everyone else's right to do the same.

"They need to learn English and understand British social norms and mores, which is not to say that they cannot enrich and add to our culture. Above all, they cannot simply turn up and say: 'I live here now, you have to look after me'. "

The theme of cutting immigration was continued by her Conservative colleagues Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates, who both also spoke at the National Conservatism Conference.

It describes itself as a gathering of people who "understand that the past and future of conservatism are inextricably tied to the idea of the nation, to the principle of national independence, and to the revival of the unique national traditions".

It says national conservatism is the "best path forward for a democratic world confronted by a rising China abroad and a powerful new Marxism at home".

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said the "true face of the modern Tory party" had revealed itself at the conference, adding that Conservatives "have nothing to offer the country beyond more failure, more excuses and more divisive politics".

"Rather than focus on the cost of living crisis, the state of the NHS, crime or house building, Tory MPs and cabinet ministers have instead chosen to hold a carnival of conspiracy theory and self-pity," she said.

“Until Rishi Sunak finds the backbone to stand up to the cranks in his party, he will always be in hoc to those painting a bleak, defeatist vision of our country’s future."

Former minister Jacob Rees-Mogg paused his explanation of national conservatism as the stage was invaded by an Extinction Rebellion protester who said he wanted to highlight a "few characteristics of fascism".

Hours later, two more protesters from the environmentalist group interrupted the home secretary's keynote speech.

"Anyone else?" the senior minister asked after the second was ejected, joking it was "audition day for the shadow cabinet".

'Anyone else?' asks Suella Braverman as protesters are led away

The home secretary said she rejects the argument that it is hypocritical for her, as someone from an ethnic minority, to push for lower migration.

"While illegal migration is rightly our priority given the acute challenges that we face in the Channel, we must not lose sight of the importance of controlling legal migration as well," she said.

"It's not xenophobic to say that mass and rapid migration is unsustainable in terms of housing supply, public services or community relations. Nor is it bigoted to say that we have too many asylum seekers in this country for whom we have insufficient accommodation.

"That absorbing more and more people means building more and more homes is another one of those unfashionable facts that the open-borders brigade would say means we're starting a culture war.

"It's not racist for anyone, ethnic minority or otherwise, to want to control our borders. I reject the left's argument that it's hypocritical for someone from an ethnic minority, like mine, to know these facts or to speak these truths."

She also took aim at Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during her speech.

Mocking his recognition of trans people as women, Ms Braverman said: "Given his definition of a woman we can't rule him out from running to be Labour's first female prime minister."

It was her second reference to trans issues in the speech. She first said to applause from the audience that it was an "unfashionable fact" that "100% of women do not have a penis".

"Conservatives must always be honest with the public. Honest about our principles and honest about our priorities," she said.

"In that way, we distinguish ourselves from the leader of the left, Sir Keir Starmer. He opposes today the things he stood for yesterday, that he'll change his mind on tomorrow and he'll campaign on next year as a man of great principle.

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"Although given his definition of a woman, we can't rule him out from running to be Labour's first female prime minister."

She also said white people do not exist in "a special state of sin", in reference to the history of slavery.

"I think the left can only sell its vision for the future by making people feel terrible about our past. White people do not exist in a special state of sin or collective guilt."

She added: "Nobody should be blamed for things that happened before they were born.

"The defining feature of this country's relationship with slavery is not that we practised it, but that we led the way in abolishing it."