John Lydon blames 'immigrants' for causing division in the UK
John Lydon has blamed "prospective immigrants" for creating "real animosity" in the "run down" UK.
John Lydon has blamed "prospective immigrants" for creating "real animosity" in the UK.
The 'Anarchy in the UK' hitmaker - who moved to California in the 1980s with his now-late wife, German-born heiress Nora Forster - bemoaned the transformation of "vibrant" seaside towns in Britain to becoming more "run down" and divided, pinning the blame on people coming to live there from overseas.
Explaining how much of his forthcoming tour will take place in seaside towns, which he believes show how "run down" the country has become, the 68-year-old former Sex Pistols frontman told LBC's Andrew Marr: “They used to be fantastic places when I was a kid.
“Mum and dad would drag us off for what felt like hours in a traffic jam, but it was absolutely great, it was working-class people throwing sand at each other… and the environment was economically thriving, I suppose. It was vibrant.”
He went on to claim the towns are now "full" of "prospective immigrants" who have no intention of "adapting" to life in the UK.
He added: "Which are really illegals [who are] not being cared for properly, but they shouldn’t have been accepted in such vast numbers.
“It’s created a real animosity in communities. The division… when you import so many people with a completely different point of view, they’re not going to adapt to yours, they’re going to stay and bring the problems they’re allegedly escaping from with them.”
The interviewer then asked the Public Image Ltd. singer what was the difference between the current situation and "Britain importing the Lydons" from Ireland, and John argued he was always raised to be "proud" to be British.
He said: “The first thing my mum and dad would tell me when I was very young was, ‘You’re British now, be British, and be proud of it'.
“Most excellent advice, and I’ve followed through.”
And the 'Rise' singer stressed his support for Brexit, despite its impact on the UK economy.
He said: “I’d rather a faltering economy than a dictatorship.”
