Dog-whistle politics from the Tory party should come as no surprise

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Glossing over the real issues and attempting to blame migrants is an old populist trick (PA)

The Tory attack on asylum seekers, reinforced by the deputy chair of the party Lee Anderson calling for them to “f*** off back to France”, should hardly come as a surprise.

It is typical kneejerk, dog-whistle politics to castigate asylum seekers and immigrants, by a political party in the electoral mire, desperate to garner votes by whatever means possible. It should also be noted that these incendiary remarks have not been condemned by Keir Starmer.

It was one reason why many people backed Brexit, and it is straight out of the right-wing playbook, which sees people blame their inability to get a GP appointment or a council house firmly at the feet of “immigrants”.