Johnson blames everyone but himself for immigration spike

Alex Ross, The Independent

Boris Johnson is to blame for "throwing open" the UK's borders and must take responsibility for the spike in legal immigration after Covid, his former right-hand man has said. Danny Kruger, who last month became Reform's newest MP after defecting from the Conservatives, said has repeatedly praised Johnson for leading the country out of the EU, even describing the former prime minister as his "hero".

But speaking to The Independent, Kruger said Johnson, who resigned as PM in the wake of the Partygate scandal, must take responsibility for the so-called “Boriswave” — a term coined by Nigel Farage to describe the post-Covid spike in legal migration. It comes after Johnson defended himself against Nigel Farage's accusation he was behind a "Boriswave", when post-Brexit migration rules saw net migration hit a record level of 906,000 in the year ending June, 2023.

Johnson said the numbers were impacted by the war in Ukraine and relocation of Hongkongers, as well as the return of EU students following the completion of courses. Kruger, who sits as the MP for East Wiltshire and served as Johnson's political secretary before becoming a Tory MP in 2019, said: "The great achievement of Brexit and why I believe Boris Johnson is a hero is that we did take back control over our borders, our laws, our money and I think that was a tremendous achievement. We should always be grateful to Boris.

"The problem is having taken back control of our borders, he then essentially threw them open to the rest of the world and so we have restricted European migration while inviting migration from elsewhere. "I'm afraid, yes, he does have to take responsibility as the leader of the government that did that for what we call the "Boriswave"".

Johnson was speaking to The Telegraph when he reacted to the comments on his leadership by Farage, who last month called him "one of the worst prime minister in British history". Meanwhile, Kruger told The Times in 2023 that Johnson, who he worked with up to the 2019 Tory election victory, regarded him as "one of the ones...having abandoned him". In his new role as head of Reform's department for "preparing for government", Kruger said tackling mass immigration was a key policy for the party.

Part of it, he said, would be to examine the cases of those who arrived in the UK during the "Boriswave", with the party looking to scrap indefinite leave to remain (ILR) for migrants.

The measure, which would also see welfare stopped to anyone other than British citizens, would save more than £200bn, the party claims. Kruger said: "We have millions of people who have come to this country and who are now on route to have essentially permanent rights of settlement here through indefinite leave to remain.

"It's that scheme that we are determined to scrap, not just for the future but for the people who are currently here on with ILR status, because those are the people who came in thanks to Boris and who will in future have to demonstrate that they are making a positive contribution, that they can speak English [and] they're not reliant on welfare if they are to stay."

But the proposal to ditch ILR has been condemned by migration charities and think tanks, who have warned of labour shortages in the care industry, along with crippling uncertainty faced by thousands of migrants, who would need to reapply for permission to stay in the UK every five years. Kruger announced his defection to Reform last month, claiming the Tory party was "over" after failures on issues such as mass migration and Brexit.