Tom Kerridge’s immigration rant on Question Time leaves furious fans with same question

Question Time viewers were left baffled after Tom Kerridge joined the political panel.

Tom Kerridge was slammed by Question Time viewers (Image: BBC)

British restaurateur Tom Kerridge was met with backlash after making an unexpected appearance on the BBC’s Question Time. The programme, which is hosted by Fiona Bruce, is usually panelled by members of the Parliament and other government officials, who debate and answer concerns from a studio audience. Yet, during Thursday’s episode, the TV presenter joined the culture secretary Lisa Nandy, the Conservatives’ shadow home office minister Alicia Kearns, Jess Brown-Fuller MP from the Liberal Democrats and the journalist Esther Krakue.

Among the many talking points, the 52-year-old addressed whether Britain is succeeding in including youth unemployment and the loss of, accused political parties of “masking” immigration. He also shared his thoughts on the current business rates and said the increases are “squeezing the life” out of the hospitality sector in the UK, with knock-on effects from youth unemployment to lost community hubs. Despite this, baffled viewers quickly took to social media, with one questioning: “Why tf is Tom Kerridge here..?” (sic)

Another viewer raged: “Tom Kerridge on Question Time!?! Why do we listen to this s**t!? Another reason why QT is absolutely rubbish now.”

“Tom Kerridge is a media chef; he’s entitled to an opinion but has no idea on this issue, I bet he’s the beneficiary of cheaper foreign labour as well,” a third fumed.

Meanwhile, others shared opposing thoughts and posted: “I mean, I don’t know why they’ve got a chef on there, but he’s correct.”

As one echoed: “I’ve – perhaps unsurprisingly – never given Tom Kerridge’s political opinions much thought, but props to him to have the courage of his convictions to be unequivocal in his support for immigration as a net positive.”

During the discussion, the Michelin-star chef claimed: “Immigration is constantly used by political parties for masking years and years of underfunding in infrastructure, health, housing, employment, and education.

“It is not the fault of immigration; it’s the fault of poor spending, poor money management.”

Tom stated: “Immigration is constantly used as this sort of battering tool, while we are a culturally rich and diverse country”

“And it is one we should be very proud of; tolerance is something we should definitely bring back.”

As for the growing business rates, he added: “The prices and the pressures the businesses sit under since 2020, mine on average across my four pubs have gone up 115%.”