Young people should ‘get on their bike’ and find work with ‘gorgeous EU women’, says Tory MP
2 min read
Young unemployed Glaswegians should "get on their bikes" and join "gorgeous EU women" in labouring on English farms, a Tory MP has said.
Craig Mackinlay told a fringe event at the party’s conference in Manchester that he could not understand why those unable to find work would not travel across the country to do so.
He was speaking amid concerns that Brexit could lead to the supply of foreign labour working in the farming sector to dry up.
According to Business Insider, the South Thanet MP said: “I was struggling to think why wouldn't a youngster from Glasgow without a job come down to the south to work for a farm for the summer with loads of gorgeous EU women working there?”
He added: "What's not to like? Get on your bike and find a job."
His comments echo those of former Tory Cabinet minister Norman Tebbit, who famously said in the 1980s that his father had "got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking till he found it" in the 1930s.
Mr Mackinlay, who famously pipped Ukip leader Nigel Farage to his seat at the 2015 general election, also said young Brits should up sticks to find work in the same way low-skilled workers in Eastern Europe do.
"We need to mobilise our core of unemployed to say there is a job there for me, let's go and get it just as the very well-motivated Bucharest youngster gets a coach across Europe to find a job," he said.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
