Brexit must be “powered by the pride and graft of British workers” and the UK's immigration system is in “total chaos”, Labor Brexiteer Lord Mann has argued.
Veteran politician Lord Mann's intervention comes on the same day Rishi Sunak unveiled a bold new plan to introduce an official cap on the number of migrants coming to the UK.
The PM insisted this measure would prevent public services, such as the NHS and schools, from being overwhelmed.
Mr. Sunak said: “We have taken bold action to cut the number of people coming to this country. The plan is working but migration levels are still too high, so we are going further.
“Labour's migrant amnesty will make the UK a global magnet for illegal immigrants and they have no plan to reduce net migration, while we have a clear plan to stop the boats and put a legal cap on numbers.
“The Conservatives are the only party that is willing to take the bold action needed to cut immigration figures.”
But Lord Mann argued the current system was broken, saying “net migration has more than trebled, despite leaving the EU”.
Writing for the Express, he said: “In 2016 I voted to leave the European Union because I thought it was the right thing for Britain.
“I believed then, as I still do now, that immigration should be controlled while working conditions should be protected here at home.”
He went on to blast the UK's reliance on the “import of cheap labour, undercutting working conditions and constraining opportunities for young people in towns and villages like mine”.
He said: “When I was in Parliament, I felt my concerns were not being listened to.
“I felt that leaving the European Union would allow our country to forge a bold new path to grow our economy and industries of the future, powered by the pride and graft of British workers.”
The Brexiteer took aim at the Tories for failing to get net migration down, claiming his party could deliver on that goal by linking “skills, immigration and our industrial strategy together to fire up training and opportunities for young people”.
Labour's plan would also involve a ban on hiring from overseas by “rogue employers” and recruitment agencies who break employment law, Lord Mann said.
But speaking to the Daily Express from the campaign trail, the PM defended his party's record.
Mr. Sunak said: “If you care about stopping the boats and bringing down legal migration, who is more likely to do that, because I've already got the boats down by a third.
“And I'm the one who's got people detained and flights ready to go to Rwanda in July.
“Keir Starmer is not going to do any of that. He's going to cancel those flights, release everyone and offer an amnesty.”