Cabinet minister says Cameron and Osborne are “too rich” to understand the issue of immigration
Cabinet minister and pro-Brexit politician Priti Patel has said in an opinion piece in the Telegraph that David Cameron and George Osborne are "too rich" to understand how high immigration is hitting the general public.
The attack comes as the Brexit camp centre the debate on immigration, with Boris Johnson and George Osborne penning a letter in this morning slamming Cameron for not curbing net migration.
Patel, MP for Witham, said in the article: "It's shameful that those leading the pro-EU campaign fail to care for those who do not have their advantages."
She said: "British families see in their daily lives the impact that the loss of control over our borders has placed on the services that they rely on. Schools, hospitals, public transport and housing are all struggling to cope with the growing demands placed upon them by immigration."
Read more: Immigration should be part of the Brexit debate
Arguing that the majority of the new school places the government is creating would go to children of EU migrants, Patel hones in on an issue that plays well for the Brexit camp; economists have largely come out in favour of Cameron's campaign to stay in the EU, prompting the change in direction from Brexiteers.
In an open letter this morning, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove also claimed that EU migration is becoming a burden on public services, saying they were "particularly concerned about the impact of free movement in the future on public services."
Number 10 called the letter a distraction, but responding to this on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show this morning, pro-Brexit MP Liam Fox said: "It's not a distraction – it's a huge issue."