Tory MP Lee Anderson bizarrely claimed asylum seekers arriving in Britain on small boats should be sent to Orkney after his party’s Rwanda plan failed.
The outspoken Conservative politician was branded “insensitive and thoughtless” for his baffling idea.
Last week the UK’s Supreme Court scuppered Rishi Sunak’s plan to deport migrants to Africa after ruling it was unlawful.
Mr Anderson, the Tory deputy chairman, was strongly condemned by political rivals for his alternative suggestion.
Another possibility put forward by the Conservative MP to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson involved sending asylum seekers to the Falkland Islands.
‘I’d like to afford a place up there’
Speaking on GB News, he said: “We can keep them on British soil if you like.
“You’ve got the Orkney Isles, or some remote Scottish island.
“If people are genuinely escaping war or persecution then a nice Scottish island with a few buildings there would be suitable.
“It’s a go-to destination, parts of Scotland, the remote islands. I’d like to be able to afford a place up there.
He added: “If we can find an island in the Orkneys, or one of these islands up there, that’s got no people on there, put some decent accommodation on, it’s job done.”
But Alistair Carmichael, Lib Dem MP for Orkney and Shetland, said Mr Anderson’s idea was not a “serious proposition”.
He said: “I would be astonished if Lee Anderson could even find Orkney – or in his words the Orkneys – on a map.
“His remarks show inhumanity towards desperate and vulnerable people – and disdain towards island communities to boot.
“If Rishi Sunak cannot bring his deputy chair into line then the only conclusion is that he approves of these attitudes.”
‘Insensitive’
Scottish Greens Highlands and Islands MSP Arianne Burgess said: “The insensitive and thoughtless remarks by Lee Anderson underline how out of touch the Tory Westminster Government is from the needs of our islanders.”
A Scottish Conservative spokesperson said: “This suggestion has no basis in fact and is not UK Government policy.”
On Monday, Mr Anderson shared a photo of himself standing next to former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford.
He insisted that while the Highland MP was a “villain” inside the chamber, he is an “absolute gentleman”.
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