Doncaster MP Nick Fletcher compared to Enoch Powell and dubbed "Nazi" after "racist" speech

Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher has come in for fierce criticism after he said Doncaster was becoming a ‘ghetto’ where people ‘don’t speak English any more.’

The MP, who has repeatedly described Doncaster as being ‘full’ of immigrants, was blasted by a number of high profile broadcasters and fellow MPs over the speech as Parliament debated the Safety of Rwanda bill, which aims to send asylum seekers to Africa.

In a speech which drew gasps and shouts of “shocking” from the Labour backbenches, Mr Fletcher said people “don’t expect to be called racist or xenophobic for saying ‘we liked it as it was'”.

Radio host and author James O’Brien posted: “There’s an MP called, I think, Nick Fletcher, who gave a speech in this debate so completely devoid of understanding, humanity and intelligence that you wonder how he ties his own shoe laces unaided.”

Broadcaster and columnist Ian Dunt said on X, formerly Twitter: “Nick Fletcher making a strong case for being the stupidest MP in the Chamber today. It’s not easy man, lots of competition, I think he’s done it.”

Loose Women host India Willoughby said: “Full on Nazi speech in the Commons from Evangelical Christian and Conservative MP Nick Fletcher. People of Doncaster: What is going on? You send this guy to represent you? Wow.”

And one fellow MP compared Mr Fletcher’s rant to fellow Conservative MP Enoch Powell’s infamous 1960s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech which was accused of inciting racial hatred.

SNP MP Joanna Cherry said: “I feel like I’ve been sucked back in time to listen to Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech again.

“The member who has just spoken needs to inform his constituents the reason they live in the sort of conditions he describes and the reason they have such low wages is not because of immigration, but because of more than 10 years of Tory government.”

One constituent told the Don Valley MP on Facebook, in a comment later deleted from the MP’s page: “You do not represent me with such a racist attitude. You and your party will be forever condemned by history as a racist party.”

Another wrote: “What a wonderful advert you are for Doncaster.”

Mr Fletcher, a practising Christian has also been condemned as being “un-Christian” in his views previously was also told: "Awful speech by somebody who claims to be a Christian, yet seems to have forgotten what some of the core Christian values are.”

Another told him: “If you want to pretend to be a Christian, you should remember that the principles in the manger scene are all refugees.”

Another added: “Nick Fletcher is promoting a racist fantasy. Isn’t this a form of hate speech?”

The MP was recently accused of avoiding scrutiny by blocking people on social media for asking questions – with radio presenter James O’Brien sharing a recent Free Press story about the tactics to his thousands of followers.

In the speech, Mr Fletcher: “If we’re going to have immigration, which I don’t completely believe is a bad thing to do, it just needs to be controlled immigration.”

He said: “Unfortunately, outside we have left-wing lawyers making six-figure salaries calling me awful and people like myself. We have TV pundits on seven-figure salaries, paid by my constituents through TV licences, again calling me awful.

“Well, I ask these people on these huge salaries, on these seven-figure salaries, I ask them to sell everything that they’ve got, I ask them to give it all away, then I ask them to come and get a job in Doncaster, probably on £25/30,000 a year, I ask them to find themselves a partner and then probably go and buy that dream house.

“Now they buy that dream house, a three-bedroom semi and mid-terraced, they make the garden nice and the kids play in the garden, they’ve got a couple next door who’ve got kids themselves and everything’s rosy.

“Then all of a sudden the neighbour decides to move on, he gets a job or he moves somewhere else and that house turns into an HMO (house of multiple occupation) and then we have nine people, who don’t speak English any more, bed hopping which is what’s happening.”

He added: “It’s happening in Doncaster and it’s happening in places throughout this country, and we are turning parts of our community into a ghetto, and this is what is happening.

“Now, all of a sudden you’re living next door to a HMO and you’ve got comings and goings at two o’clock in the morning, three o’clock in the morning, people outside smoking, the grass doesn’t get cut any more, or the windows don’t get cleaned any more, and unfortunately you feel scared to let your child play out in the garden any more.

“Now, there’s no gated communities here to make people feel safe cause we’re not on seven-figure salaries any more, you’re earning £30,000 now remember, that’s what you’re earning. So the only protection that you’ve got is a lock on the door and a council that might put a public space protection order in, but not enforce it any more.

“Now, this is what’s happening. You can’t sell your house any more, and if you do you have to sell it at a discount.

“Your little child falls over in the street, you have to go to A&E and you get a 12-hour waiting list, and the reason why the waiting list is so long is because people don’t speak English in these places any more.”

However, the speech also drew praise from some.

One said: “Nick Fletcher’s speech today was spot on, exactly what the majority of people in Doncaster want.”

Another wrote: “Thank you very much.”