British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and home secretary Suella Braverman were heckled and told to “go away” when they visited Essex town centre, Sky News reported.
The demonstration was in response to the Sunak government’s crackdown on immigrants entering the country through small boats. The incident happened as they went around Chelmsford’s High Street with three police officers in preparation for the beginning of an anti-social behaviour drive.
A viral video that is now doing rounds on the internet shows a woman yelling, “Allow migrants into our country. Go away, we don’t want you here.” However, both leaders chose to disregard the comments and continued speaking with the officers.
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After a little more than five minutes of walking, Sunak was taken to the Chelmsford Boxing Club where he addressed the gathering and answered questions regarding his anti-social behaviour action plan.
The protest comes as the controversial Illegal Migration Bill returns to the House of Commons for its committee stage on Monday, with Downing Street facing objections to the bill from both the liberal and the right wings of the Conservative Party.
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During his visit, Sunak said he was confident they had designed a bill that was “robust and effective”. “The home secretary and I have worked incredibly closely for the last two months to get the legislation exactly right, he was quoted as saying by Sky News.
“This is a tough piece of legislation, the likes of which we haven’t seen. It’s important that it is effective, which it will be. It is also important that we abide by our international obligations. This is a country and government that does follow the law,” he added.
