GB News ground to a halt as host Patrick Christys launched into a fierce tirade at Andy Burnham's latest mistakes. On Wednesday (August 12), the 34-year-old broadcaster returned to the airwaves to discuss the biggest issues affecting the UK this week. It didn't take long before things turned political as he took aim at the Labour leader, stating that wealthy areas need to "play their part" in housing illegal migrants.
Burnham's comments
On Tuesday (August 11), the politician told GB News: "We cannot have a situation where it's only the poorest communities in the country that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers. I do believe all parts of the country need to work, to play their part."
Labour has pledged to stop using asylum hotels, a costly form of accommodation that has become a focal point for anti-migrant protests. The Government has sought to house migrants at military sites across the country instead, announcing in June that it planned to open three more, including the site in Bicester, Oxfordshire.
Christys' response
Reflecting on the Prime Minister's announcement, the broadcaster decided to do some digging of his own live on the show. He fumed: "Andy Burnham has said that wealthy areas need to play their part when it comes to housing illegal immigrants."I know that Andy only seems to be employing TikTok influencers at the moment and paying them loads of taxpayers' money, so I decided to do a bit of work for him for free. I've identified several wealthy areas that really do need to 'play their part'."
He went on to flag Cambridge, Sheffield Hallam, neither of which has an asylum-seeker hotel registered in their area, and Richmond-upon-Thames in London, which has the fewest refugees registered in the UK. Mr Christys went on: "Here's the thing with these refugees welcome, left-wing MPs in wealthy areas: "They'll lecture the rest of us, they'll preach to us about being more welcoming, but if they welcomed large numbers of them into their areas, it would bring down the house prices. It would increase crime, and the left-wing lovvies who voted for them wouldn't like it very much."I actually don't want to see these wealthy areas take more illegal immigrants because I don't think anywhere should have them."
Social media reaction
It didn't take long for viewers to flock to social media to share their frustrations online, with one user penning: "It's amazing that Burnham thinks the solution we're after is dispersing asylum seekers in every constituency. The incessant tap dancing around what Brits actually want is tiresome."Another agreed: "The debate should be about enforcing immigration laws fairly and ensuring every community has the resources to cope. Wealth or location shouldn't determine whether the law is applied, but neither should communities be ignored when decisions are made."A third pointed out: "Patrick isn't wrong. The 'elites' appear recalcitrant to stop the invasion that they have enabled, and house their illegal entry migrants amongst them in the upper-class areas. Maybe then they'll cease and desist."
