U.K. television personality and millionaire businesswoman Deborah Meaden has drawn criticism on social media after rebuking Rupert Lowe, MP and leader of Restore Britain, for suggesting Britain should create “a hostile and unwelcoming environment” to discourage illegal immigration.
Meaden replied, “Create a hostile environment… is that really the Country you want to live in? Jeez… you are not my Britain.”
“A hostile environment for unvetted foreign invaders? Many of whom are criminals? Inflicting awful crimes on the British people? Yes,” Lowe hit back.
“I absolutely want a hostile environment for those people. I want them all deported. I don’t really care how that happens.”
The exchange quickly reignited debate over Meaden’s political leanings and personal background. A long-time supporter of progressive causes, Meaden has spoken frequently about environmentalism, liberal migration policies, and support for left-wing parties. Last month, she described the rise of the Green Party — whose new leadership advocates leaving NATO and dramatically increasing climate spending — as “extremely hopeful.”
“It’s sent an alternative message that it’s not all about Reform versus Labour. There’s another way,” she told This Is Money.
However, critics accused her of hypocrisy after a user pointed out that she lives in an area that is 96.9 percent White, residing in the former mansion of the 1st Earl of Chatham, with 10 bedrooms, four bathrooms, and 240 acres of land. The same user described the property as “a former earl’s mansion with 38 pets and a tennis court,” suggesting her views on migration may be shaped by privilege rather than experience of diverse communities.
Green Party Leader Zack Polanski and far-left former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn were also quick to condemn Lowe for his remarks.
Polanski told Left Foot Forward that Lowe’s comments were “cruel, nasty and deeply un-British,” adding that “the mask is off.” Corbyn added, “This is an utterly repulsive incitement of hatred. The hostile environment was a shameful period for this country — and it is beyond disgusting that a sitting MP would call for its return.”
Green Party Deputy Leader Rachel Millward faced accusations of double standards this week after objecting to the government’s decision to house 600 asylum seekers at the Crowborough Army Training Center in her Wealden district.
In a letter to Migration Minister Mike Tapp, Millward and Council Leader James Partridge said the plan had been “unilaterally” imposed without consultation. They wrote that the council had received “significant concerns about the suitability of the site” and warned the decision would cause “major problems” for both asylum seekers and residents. “We simply do not have information to reassure us that the well-being and safety of both asylum seekers and local communities will be properly safeguarded,” the letter stated.
Yet, just weeks earlier, Millward had struck a very different tone in a speech to the Green Party Conference, declaring, “There will be a day when we sit our grandchildren on our knees and we tell them, ‘First they came for the immigrants, so we hung out flags from all the nations and we said refugees are welcome here.'”
Critics highlighted the contrast between that rhetoric and her subsequent letter seeking to prevent asylum housing in her district which, according to the 2021 Census, is 91 percent White.
Together, the controversies surrounding both Meaden and far-left politicians have fueled accusations of hypocrisy among affluent progressives — those who advocate open borders and multiculturalism in principle, but object when such policies are applied in their own localities.
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