Why is a GB News guest suggesting immigration in the UK is a ‘genocide’ of white Brits?

What’s the story?

You probably haven't heard of Thomas Corbett-Dillon, but this former advisor to Boris Johnson has warned of a "genocide" taking place right here in the UK.

When he describes himself as a 'former advisor' he means he once worked on a social media campaign for the Tories.

And when he says "genocide" he means migrants entering the UK.

Corbett-Dillon (which may or may not be his real name) told hosts on GB News that if the "genocide" of white British people were taking place anywhere else in the world, the UN would step in to prevent this happening.

The GB News presenter's response was to ask if Corbett-Dillon's claims were "a bit harsh".

"What the actual fuck," says Jon Sopel, on seeing the interaction.

"I'm flabbergasted."

He jokes the “slaughter” of tens of thousands of Brits across the country by foreign invaders must have passed him by. It has not happened.

Lewis Goodall says the Overton Window (what is considered acceptable to say in politics) is no longer shifting, but “galloping” into new and extreme territory.

"We are at a point where this sort of idea can be deemed respectable and part of the normality of debate," he says.

"I'm not one of these people who believes that debate should be shut down, but this is a channel regulated by Ofcom broadcasting the idea that mass migration equals genocide with the most gentle of pushbacks.

"It shows the extent to which so much of the conversation on the right of British politics has become deeply radicalised."

The great replacement theory, he adds, now sits at the very heart of British right-wing politics.

The danger of invoking 'genocide' in migration debates

Jon says that using the word ‘genocide’ aligns British migration with the murder of more than 500,000 Tutsi people in Rwanda and the six millions Jews who were killed during the Holocaust of World War Two.

There is ongoing investigation of Israel’s military action in Gaza since October 7, which is under “legal discussion” over whether it meets similar criteria.

"These are terrible things, but don't try and elide what has happened there with an immigration problem that we've got in Britain," Jon adds.

Lewis says there is a pervasive "dark fantasy" that English and British identity is being destroyed by people migrating to the UK from overseas.

"There is greater credibility to the idea that the Israeli government have committed genocide in Gaza than the British Home Office, by inviting care workers, doctors, nurses, engineers or students, amounts to genocide in the UK," he says.

"It's just fantasy."

Jon adds that if the BBC, ITV or Sky News had broadcast this conversation, there would be "hell to pay".

Instead, he says, people just shrug and say, "'Oh well, it's GB News',” when the same standards should apply.

Black British people 'fry the brains' of the political hard-right

The one thing that confuses "radicalised" right-wing commentators more than trying to draw a line between migration and genocide, Lewis says, is the concept of Black British people, who descend from migrants and who love this country and are proud to be here.

"Very often, as is seen in immigrant community after immigrant community, they are absorbed into the UK, and they really do identify as deeply British – like Rishi Sunak or Sadiq Khan." He says.

"Then, these bastards, these idiots, turn around and tell those people that they're not British and not English."

This, he adds, is due to a deeply "ethno-nationalist" vision of what Englishness and Britishness is.

"What they can't stand is that people with brown or black faces, or with religions that aren't Christian, actually deeply identify as being British and English – it fries their brains.

"And so then they start talking about nonsense – like genocide or replacement and conspiracy – because it's the only way it can get through their dull, dead synapses."

A GB News spokesman said: “The contributor’s comments were his own views, not those of the channel, and a range of other views were also expressed in the debate.

“GB News is committed to free speech and to providing a platform for robust but respectful debate on issues of public interest.

“Discussions around immigration, integration and national identity are widely debated in democratic societies and it is important that different perspectives can be aired and scrutinised.

“GB News operates in full compliance with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code and takes its responsibilities as a regulated broadcaster seriously.”

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.