Zack Polanski perfectly explained the necessity of immigration for the UK.
The Green leader was appearing on an immigration special of Question Time on Thursday, alongside Reform’s Zia Yusuf, Labour’s Migration Minister Mike Tapp, Tory shadow Justice Minister Kieran Mullan and Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper.
Given Reform’s well-versed anti-immigration rhetoric and Labour’s hardening stance on the topic, Polanski and Cooper represented the pro-immigration side of the panel.
Putting to aside moral arguments about accepting asylum seekers fleeing war and conflicts, Polanski highlighted how from an economical point of view migration is vital for the UK.
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As Tapp and Yusuf voiced their disagreement with him, Polanski accused them of “being rattled by the Green Party because what I’m talking about is something very pragmatic.”
He explained how the UK has “an aging population, a declining birth rate, and we have pensions to pay,” pointing out how migrant workers a net tax benefit for the country.
Polanski also highlighted how vital migrant workers are to social care in the UK, saying: “Migrant workers are on average contributing £78,000 over here, before going back to their country and not taking out of the system, so they are a net benefit.
“1 in 5 care workers are foreign nationals. I don’t know about you but I don’t particularly want to wipe someone’s bum. And I’m very grateful to the people who do this work, whether in the care sector of the NHS.”
Earlier in the programme, Polanski made a similar point, saying that issues with the NHS, council homes and society were not down to migrants, but 14 years of Tory austerity.
He hit out Labour for their role in the rhetoric about migration, labelling them a “government of cowards because you won’t tell people the truth about migration.”