LONDON, United Kingdom – Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott lashed out at the “misguided” immigration policies of European leaders, including that of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, insisting: “unlike you, we now control our borders”. The full video is now live, above.
Speaking at the Second Annual Margaret Thatcher Gala dinner in the City of London, Mr. Abbott told a crowd of Conservative Party MPs and supporters that seeing off radical Islam, as well as stopping migrants reaching Europe were the most critical battles in modern times.
He said, in a speech that received a mixed reception amongst the audience at the exclusive black-tie event: “All countries that say ‘anyone who gets here can stay here’ are now in peril, given the scale of the population movements that are starting to be seen. There are tens, perhaps hundreds, of millions of people living in poverty and danger who might readily seek to enter a Western country if the opportunity is there.
“Who could blame them? Yet no country or continent can open its borders to all comers without fundamentally weakening itself. This is the risk countries of Europe now run through misguided altruism.”
The ousted Aussie PM leant on the legacy of the Iron Lady, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, to insist that strong borders and strong defences were imperative to a nation’s success, and warned: “No country or continent can open its borders to all comers without fundamentally weakening itself,” adding, “it is the only way to prevent a tide of humanity surging through Europe and quite possibly changing it forever.”
Mr. Abbott was delivering his first major speech since leaving office in a party coup last month. He was invited by the Margaret Thatcher Centre, a charitable arm seeking to raise funds to commemorate Lady Thatcher’s life with a “presidential style” library and museum.
VIP guests at the event included former British defence secretary Dr. Liam Fox, as well as Tory cabinet ministers including Sajid Javid MP, Iain Duncan Smith, and Priti Patel. Comedian Jim Davidson was also in attendance, raising awareness for his armed forces charity Care After Combat.