Paul Nowak has received plaudits for his speech to the TUC Congress in Liverpool this week.
The union’s general secretary spoke out against the government’s anti-migrant rhetoric which has increased exponentially on the back of the small boats “crisis”.
The home secretary has been particularly divisive on the issue, much to the chagrin of Nowak, whose grandparents were both immigrants.
In a barnstorming speech, he said: “I am proud to be the grandson of immigrants, proud of my family and proud of the contribution that they, and millions like them have made to this country.
“So when I hear the Home Secretary talking of a “migrant invasion”, that her dream is to deport people to Rwanda, when I see immigrants housed on a barge with legionella, or hear that the Immigration Minister ordered a mural for kids painted over .. for me – it is personal.
“Because the real enemies of the working class don’t arrive in a small boat. They fly in by private jet.
“Our movement stands with all working people, wherever they were born, whatever their race, whatever their nationality. Every migrant is my sister, my brother, and this government shames us all.”
Watch the footage in full below:
