The Sex Pistols’ John Lydon today claimed immigration had created ‘division’ across many parts of the UK.
John, best known by his stage name Johnny Rotten, said the country today is ‘so, so catastrophically disappointing’ as he suggested people arriving into Britain are creating ‘animosity in communities’.
The musician was speaking to Andrew Marr during an interview on LBC about his upcoming tour and claimed a number of the seaside towns he will be visiting are ‘full of what they term prospective immigrants’.
The musician explained: ‘A lot of this tour that I’m doing will be in seaside towns and they really indicate how run down Britain has become.
‘They used to be fantastic places when I was a kid. Mum and dad would drag us off there for what felt like hours in a traffic jam. But it was absolutely great. It was working class people throwing sand at each other.’
But he said now many of these towns, where Brits ‘once bought ‘Kiss Me Quick’ hats’, have changed, adding: ‘They seem to be full of what they term prospective immigrants, which are really illegals not being cared for properly’.
He added: ‘When you import so many people with a completely different point of view, they’re not going to adapt to yours, they’re going to stay and bring the problems that they are allegedly escaping from.’
John, who himself is the son of Irish migrants, has been called out on social media for the hypocrisy for his comments, while Marr also pointed out that the rocker was ‘part of the Irish migrant group in North London’.
Sex Pistols John Lydon says during an LBC interview that immigration is to blame for ‘division’ in UK
John, best known by his stage name Johnny Rotten, was the lead singer of the Sex Pistols
John lost his wife Nora (pictured) last year at the age of 80 following a two year battle with Alzheimer’s disease
John appeared on LBC yesterday evening to promote his upcoming tour I Could Be Wrong, I Could Be Right, which begins in Brighton on May 1.
The musician explained: ‘A lot of this tour that I’m doing will be in seaside towns and they really indicate how run down Britain has become.
‘They used to be fantastic places when I was a kid. Mum and dad would drag us off there for what felt like hours in a traffic jam. But it was absolutely great. It was working class people throwing sand at each other.’
Discussing how towns had changed he said: ‘They seem to be full of what they term prospective immigrants, which are really illegals not being cared for properly’.
‘But then shouldn’t have been accepted in such vast numbers because it’s created a real, real animosity in communities.
‘When you import so many people with a completely different point of view, they’re not going to adapt to yours, they’re going to stay and bring the problems that they are allegedly escaping from.’
Pushing back on his comments, Marr then highlighted: ‘We imported the Lydons. We imported your lot from Ireland as well. You were part of the Irish migrant group in North London.’
John then replied: ‘And the first thing my mum and dad ever would tell me when I was very young was “You’re British now, be British and be proud of it.” Most excellent advice and I followed through.’
John Lydon performs on stage at O2 Forum Kentish Town on June 16, 2022
Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, Steve Jones, Johnny Rotten (John Lydon), Glen Matlock and Paul Cook at the EMI studios in December 1976
John posed with his wife Nora Forster. The couple married in 1979
John Lydon appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored in May 2022
Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious, John Lydon and Paul Cook perform on the Queen Elizabeth II at Riverboat party on the Thames in 1977
John found fame with The Sex Pistols in the Seventies alongside guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Glen Matlock. Matlock was replaced by Sid Vicious in early 1977.
Lydon was the lead singer from 1975 until 1978, later fronting the band for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s.
Tragically, John lost his wife last year at the age of 80 following a two year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
He had become his wife’s full-time carer after she was diagnosed with the degenerative condition in 2021.
Last year he admitted it ‘has been much harder than he thought’ dealing with the loss of his wife after spending nearly fives decades together.
The couple married in 1979 and John recently admitted that life without the former model would be ‘unbearable’.
Born Nora Maier, she was a German publishing heiress with a passion for music, who later became a promoter.
She had a daughter, Ariane, from her previous marriage to German singer Frank Forster. Better known as Ari Up, the late singer became the frontwoman of The Slits as a teenager and a punk icon in her own right.
Nora moved with Ari in the 1960s to west London, and hosted bands and rockstars like The Clash, Yes and Jimi Hendrix at her Shepherd’s Bush home.
In 1975, Nora met Lydon, who was 14 years her junior, at Vivienne Westwood’s famed King’s Road clothes shop Sex.
The pair were at first warned off each other by friends, but despite this, Lydon said they had an immediate and explosive connection – one which would last a lifetime.
