Have your say by voting in our poll after Rylan Clark’s rant about small boat crossings on ITV’s This Morning sparked furious backlash?
This Morning: Rylan Clark shares his thoughts on immigration
Rylan Clark has faced angry backlash after his migrant rant on This Morning. The TV star has since rolled back on his claims, but we want to know whether you think ITV should have pushed back on his comments.
During a Wednesday appearance on ITV, Rylan, 36, claimed there was “something wrong” with how small boat arrivals were handled. He claimed that a myth surrounds the welcome and enter into which people who cross the Channel are told.
He made the remarks after he claimed that immigration is a big factor in the country and praised overseas medical professionals who had treated his mother. He continued, saying that while people were risking their lives on the dangerous journey, they were “absolutely insane.”
Rylan Clark rolled back on a rant about migration(Image: ITV)
The This Morning host remarked, “Legal immigration: Many of the nurses and doctors who saved my mother’s life have come here from abroad. They are contributing to the prosperity of this country by paying into this tax system, living in a great way, and contributing to the growth of this country.
He continued, “I find it absolutely insane that all these people are crossing the Channel putting their lives on the line.” And when they arrive, it seems like there is something wrong, and that’s why many Labour voters are also saying, “Welcome, come on in!” That is the narrative being presented to us.
“Here’s the iPad. Here’s the NHS in reception of your hotel. Here’s three meals a day. Here’s a games room in the hotel. Have a lovely time and welcome.” If you can’t see the poll, click here.
Hours later, Rylan took to his Instagram where he wrote: “You can be pro immigration and against illegal routes. You can support trans people and have the utmost respect for women.
“You can support gay rights while also being heterosexual. The list keeps growing. Stop putting everyone in a box exercise and start talking on Twitter without getting angry.
The Mirror has since fact-checked Rylan’s comments, with many of the points – surrounding iPads, NHS in hotel receptions, ratings of hotels and claims about being handed three meals a day – being proven wrong. Rylan’s comments come as a swarm of anti-immigration protests have spread across the UK over the asylum hotels row.
Rylan made a statement on social media.
Writing in the Mirror, Assistant Editor Darren Lewis slammed ITV, saying the broadcaster should be ‘ashamed’. He wrote: “Rylan is a symptom of the poisonous rhetoric infecting the broadcast narrative around asylum seekers and refugees.
“This Morning has questions to answer for green-lighting and amplifying an ill-informed perspective for which a Premier League footballer would have been vilified.
“ITV is the channel that normalised Nigel Farage on its flagship reality TV show, I’m A Celebrity. Now this, an outburst seized upon and clipped up on social media by Far Right racists as a badge of honour.”
Continue reading the article.
What do you think? Should ITV have pushed back on Rylan’s migrant comments? Take our poll above and have your say in the comments below.
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RB Leipzig attacker Xavi Simons will be signed for 60 million euros (£511.8 million).
The Netherlands international has completed his medical before joining Thomas Frank’s side in England, according to sources close to the situation.
The 22-year-old’s overall package has been reached in theory between Spurs and Leipzig, with final decisions expected to be made in the coming 24 hours.
Frank said in a statement on Friday that he would not confirm a deal with Simons, but that he hoped the fans would receive good news later today for various reasons because the club is attempting to sign players and will continue to try until the transfer window is closed.
I can confirm that we are working very hard to get someone to cross the line, and I can confirm that.
Chelsea and Leipzig have been in discussions about moving for Simons, but they are now set to sign Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho for a fee of $40 million.
Joao Palhinha and Mohammed Kudus will now join Spurs as summer arrivals.
Analyzing “A very exciting modern attacker”
Butler, Jordan
BBC Sport
Where will Frank play at Spurs? The talented Dutchman was linked with numerous other European clubs this summer.
In his first three years in charge, Frank is renowned for having a versatile tactical style, playing 5-3-2 in the Super Cup final against Paris St-Germain and 4–3-3 in the Premier League, which he used.
Simons would most likely play left of Frank’s front three so he can use his preferred right foot to cut inside.
Last season, the attacker spent 75% of his time on the left in the Bundesliga, where he was most frequently used. If necessary, he can also play right or center.
However, Simons frequently requested by RB Leipzig’s former manager Marco Rose to play either a 4-2-2-2 formation in a “box midfield” formation, which encouraged full-backs to move forward, which suggests he will need time to adjust to Frank’s methods.
Edu Rubio, former coach of Crystal Palace, said: “Simones’ range of passing is excellent and he also has a fantastic ability to carry the ball at pace, which makes him a great asset when his team is launching an attack.
He can also score goals for the team, but he might struggle at times while using his weakest foot. He has a strong commitment to his defensive responsibilities and can greatly assist the team with high pressing and counter-pressing.
Opta
Has the creator-in-chief been found for Spurs?
Tottenham’s obvious disappointment at missing out on Gibbs-White and Eze will be somewhat tempered by Simons’ arrival, whose impressive results from last season provide plenty of encouragement.
Despite missing 15 games due to an ankle injury, he was directly responsible for 19 goals last season for Leipzig, totaling 11 goals and eight assists.
But it will be particularly interesting for Frank because of his ability to create chances and play passes into risky areas.
Who is Simons, from Barcelona to Tottenham?
Simons, a graduate of Barcelona’s La Masia academy, signed for Paris St-Germain as a teenager in 2019 before rising to fame on a loan at PSV in 2022-23.
In 78 games for the German side, he would score 22 goals and add 24 assists over the course of his two seasons at Leipzig.
Following Benjamin Sesko’s £73.7 million move to Manchester United, he would be the second significant transfer from Leipzig to the Premier League this summer.
Simons has long been one of the most sought-after players in Europe, given the nickname Xavi, after the former Barcelona and Spain midfielder.
Simons quickly rose to fame as a top-notch student from the Catalan giants’ esteemed academy at the age of seven.
By the age of 14, Simons had a contract with Nike, a million Instagram followers, and had starred in an advertisement for Neymar and Ronaldinho.
However, Simons’ career abruptly sagged at the age of 16. He left PSG after failing to reach a deal with Barcelona, adage that “the Brazilian looked after him like a “little brother” was repeated by his idol Neymar.
He made his debut in February 2021 at age 17 but opportunities were limited, and Simons had only made 11 senior appearances overall by the following year.
He sought regular football.
He has already been linked with clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, and other teams, but appears to have made a move to the Premier League. He can play either wing or behind the striker and can speak six languages.
Before the transfer window closes, Crystal Palace may be able to secure the signing of Marc Guehi from Liverpool.
The Premier League champions have been in discussions with Guehi regarding a potential £35 million move, but Palace boss Oliver Glasner claimed the centre-half “has” planned to stay at the club past the deadline of Monday.
Although there is still no consensus between the two teams, Liverpool has benefited from being encouraged. Palace are prepared to sell the England defender and are actively working to improve at centre-back.
Guehi, the captain of Palace, has stated his intention to not negotiate a new deal with the palace.
Guehi’s contract expires the following summer, but Glasner has publicly stated his desire to keep him. However, the Eagles are reluctant to let him leave on a free transfer. A £65 million deal to sell Guehi to Newcastle was rejected last year.
The 19-year-old Jaydee Canvot, 19, has attracted interest from Palace, and negotiations for the highly-regarded central defender are still in progress.
They have approached Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji, but the Swiss international is said to have reservations about making the switch. They are also looking for an experienced centre-half.
Ousmane Diomande has been Palace’s first-choice target, but they haven’t been able to get the Ivory Coast international.
Another defender Palace are alleged to be interested in is Roma’s Evan Ndicka.
When the window closes, Glasner said on Friday, “Guehi has to]be a Palace player.”
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Simon Stone
Chief football newscaster
Ruben Amorim, the manager of Manchester United, said “sometimes I want to quit” after his post-match comments following the defeat at Grimsby, which sparked questions about his future.
The Portuguese claimed that “something has to change” and that his team “were completely lost” after the League Two team’s defeat on Wednesday.
He chose not to clarify his remarks, which some thought were the 40-year-old considering his future even inside Old Trafford.
But he continued, “Every time we experience a defeat like that in the future, I’m going to be like that,” he said on Friday. I’ll admit that I sometimes love my players while occasionally I detest them.
“Sometimes I want to leave, and others I want to stay here for 20 years.”
Amorim spoke to a number of media outlets following the penalty shootout defeat at Blundell Park, marking the first time United had ever lost a championship game to a fourth-tier team.
Without defining what he meant, he said to them all, “the team and the players spoke really loudly today.”
He added that he needed to “think about things” next week with the club’s management.
Amorim acknowledges that such incisive statements will undoubtedly stoke debate and skepticism about his future.
He is willing to accept it because he can’t control his reactions, though.
He said, “If you have this kind of behavior, you have to realize that you have other things going for you,” and that you must understand that.
“I am aware that you have a lot of experienced reporters discussing how to interact with the media and remain more consistent and calm.
I fully comprehend that. However, I won’t behave like that. My approach to things is this. That’s why I have this interest. I was very upset and disappointed at the time, and I’m going to be who I am. So get ready.
Amorim is understood to have had the backing of United’s ownership, who invested about $ 200 million in forwards Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbuemo, and Benjamin Sesko in the summer.
Following a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal and a 1-1 draw with Fulham in the Premier League, they have yet to come away with a victory.
Saturday at 15:00 BST, they host Burnley.
I thought our pre-season was very good, we were playing better, and we were playing consistently, Morim said.
It might be a bumpy ride, according to analysis
It might be a bumpy ride, so strap yourself in.
Ruben Amorim described the situation in detail in a Friday interview with the media. His cheerful disposition was returning. He appeared to be more in charge.
We’ve grown used to Amorim’s heartfelt language, and when we explain why he spoke at Grimsby, it appeared as though he was purging.
At Manchester United, statements are analyzed until the person who made them speak the next time, which is a problem that every manager has experienced with speaking through emotion after games at times.
Only two days were present at this time. However, now that there is no longer a gap between the EFL Cup and Europe, Amorim will have much more time to analyze what he has said.
Will his decision to play against Burnley result in him wanting to quit and despising his team? Or will it be one in which he will be a committed player for 20 years?
Amorim is aware of the angered feelings of some people. He can’t, though.
Elche is interested in Malacia, Hojlund talks continue, and Elche is in the loop.
The fate of other exiled players with the Old Trafford club is still being discussed after United confirmed that they had accepted a £40 million offer from Chelsea for wantaway winger Alejandro Garnacho.
Rasmus Hojlund’s loan deal with United is still being discussed with Napoli.
Before the transfer window closes on Monday, Spanish club Elche has also made contact with Amorim about signing Tyrell Malacia from La Liga.
Roma, a division of the Serie A, continue to try to sign Jadon Sancho, despite coach Gian Piero Gasperini stating that there is a cap on what his club can do and that Sancho should look favorably on a chance to resurrect his career.
Gasperini said, “He would be a huge boost for us, but we would be a huge opportunity for him.”
Russia and China have condemned Britain, Germany, and France’s decision to start a process that could impose UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
The three European nations, collectively known as the E3, on Thursday launched the so-called “snapback mechanism” in response to accusations that Iran had broken a 2015 agreement that demanded that it stop developing nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
The decision creates a 30-day window in which to sign a new UN resolution to end sanctions before they are imposed.
In a statement blaming the United States and Europe for the fallout of the 2015 nuclear deal, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, “We strongly condemn these actions by European countries and call on the international community to reject them.”
China criticized the actions taken by the European Union as “unintentional.”
“The Iranian nuclear problem is at a crucial turning point. According to Guo Jiakun, a regular media briefing on Friday, “leting the Security Council’s snapback mechanism of sanctions be used to undermine the political and diplomatic resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue.”
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier decried the action, calling him “unjustified” and “lacking any legal basis” in a call with his European counterparts.
He declared, “The Islamic Republic of Iran will appropriately respond to this unlawful and unjustified action.” The Iranian Foreign Ministry stated in a statement that the European countries’ decision will “gravely undermine” their ongoing cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog agency.
Threat of NPT withdrawal
In response to the European decision, Iranian MP Hossein-Ali Haji-Deligani reported to the Tasnim news agency that the parliament is considering legislation to remove Iran from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT) list.
For decades, the treaty has served as the foundation of global nuclear weapons control.
The MP informed the organization that the draft law was on the agenda and that the legal review and approval process for the West might turn out to be a mistake in the wake of potential resumption of nuclear negotiations with the West.
He claimed that breaking all ties with the European trio would be the only course of action.
Iran claims nuclear energy is necessary for its power, but the West has long expressed concern that it is attempting to build an atomic bomb.
In his first term, US President Donald Trump uninvited the 2015 agreement because he felt it was insufficiently reducing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Julius Malema, the opposition leader of South Africa, was found guilty of hate speech by the country’s Equality Court on Wednesday this week after making comments at a political rally in 2022.
The party’s leader, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who frequently speaks out and is polarized, has made the third such ruling.
In May, President Trump of the United States cited Malema as the head of an anti-white movement and claimed that South Africa had discriminated against white people there. This year, Washington cut aid to Pretoria and imposed high tariffs, which severely affected the two nations’ relations.
What we know about Malema’s legal repercussions and the conviction:
Julius Malema, who is he?
Malema, 44, is a seasoned politician in South Africa and the leader of the EFF, a small leftist party known for its advocacy of Black South Africans’ rights. Red berets and military-style clothing are frequently worn by its members.
Malema is renowned for his outspoken criticism of the African National Congress (ANC), the country’s dominant political party. Prior to joining the ANC Youth League, he was the organization’s president until 2012 when he was kicked out for opposing Jacob Zuma.
Many white South Africans believe the politician is pursuing controversial policies that are intended to denigrate them, such as nationalizing South African mines and allowing them to expropriate land without compensation. Black people had a harder time getting to know wealth and land under apartheid-era policies. The country’s private land is still largely white-owned, and that legacy still exists today.
Hamas, a Palestinian armed group, has also drawn controversy as a result of Malema’s vocal support for Hamas.
Malema’s visa to the United Kingdom was denied in June because, according to the UK Home Office, he was “non-conductive to the public good.” The action was characterized as “cowardice,” according to the EFF.
39 members of parliament make up the EFF. It is not a member of the ruling coalition government and placed fourth in the South African general elections held in May.
On May 2, 2024, before the general election in South Africa, an electoral poster featuring Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema was spotted in Polokwane.
The Western Cape Division of South Africa’s Equality Court found Malema guilty of hate speech on Wednesday in a case brought by the South African Human Rights Commission. The court alleged that his comments at a rally in Cape Town in October 2022 were in violation of the country’s Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act.
Malema was speaking to EFF colleagues at the time he made the remarks. He made reference to a previous incident where party members had verbal exchanged with white students outside of Brackenfell High School. Black students had gathered outside the school to protest the alleged exclusion of Black students.
Malema then criticized his coworkers for failing to use more forceful retaliation. He urged them to “follow up” with a white man in the video so that they could “provide proper care” for the man.
According to Malema, “revolutionaries must not be scared to kill” and that racist deeds should be interpreted as “an application to meet your maker with immediate effect.”
No white man will ever beat me up, he said, noting that the Revolution dictates that there must be murder at some point.
The court ruled on Wednesday that the statements could be read as having “a clear intention to incite harm.”
The court stated in its ruling that while calling out someone who behaves as a racist is acceptable, calling them to be killed is not.
Malema may be asked to apologize in public, be ordered to pay compensation, or be recommended for a criminal prosecution if no punishment orders have been issued as of yet.
On February 6, 2025, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema arrives at Cape Town City Hall ahead of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation (SONA) address.
What have Malema and the EFF said about the court’s decision?
The EFF claimed in a statement that the court had “attacked” democracy and that the ruling had “grave distortion” of history and political speech.
According to the party, Malema’s remarks were meant “theoretically” and were made in response to the country’s history of apartheid and subsequent liberation movements. The EFF argued that Malema’s words were taken out of context and disregarded the events that had occurred in the country, including the Brackenfell school shooting and the country’s apartheid history.
According to the EFF, “this decision fundamentally misunderstands both the context and the meaning of the speech.”
The statement continued, “Not an instruction to kill people, but a reference to the unstoppable conflict between white supremacy and Black consciousness when Malema spoke of “war.”
Has Malema ever been the target of hate speech?
Yes, Malema has allegedly used hate speech in public several times. Although one of his convictions was overturned, he has twice been found guilty.
He was found guilty of hate speech in 2009 for rape at a woman who had alleged former President Zuma’s rape. Malema and Zuma were at the time, close. Malema said the woman “had a nice time” with Zuma in a comment. The Equality Court forbade him from apologizing to the accuser in public and to pay 50, 000 rand ($2,824) to a facility that treats abused women.
He was once more found guilty of hate speech in 2011 after sung the isiXhosa song “Kill the Boer” at a rally. The song, which uses white Afrikaans speakers, gained popularity in the 1980s as a result of Black opposition to white minority rule. When Black people were able to cast their first ballots in 1994, the apartheid-era government of the nation fell apart.
The Equality Court overturned that earlier judgment in 2022, accepting Malema’s claims that the lyrics were intended as a metaphorical statement of resistance when she was once more taken to court for singing racist songs.
The AfriForum and other Afrikan lobby organizations have continued to challenge the decision’s overturning. The Constitutional Court dismissed a second lawsuit in May in an effort to dismiss it.
Does Trump’s claim of “white genocide” include Malema?
Yes, US President Donald Trump cited Malema’s speeches as proof that there was a ‘white genocide’ in South Africa.
Trump and other senior members of his administration, including former adviser Elon Musk, have also supported claims that there is a genocide of white people in South Africa, as well as those of his predecessors.
However, a number of South African experts have refuted this claim and claim that there is no evidence that white people are targeted for their race in the nation.
Trump has used those claims to support his March 1st-March reduction in foreign aid and the country’s imposition of high trade tariffs. He also criticized South Africa for bringing Israel’s claim that it is a genocide in Gaza before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Even as, for instance, the US stopped migrant protection programs for people from Afghanistan, the Trump administration launched a refugee program for white South Africans in February. Under the new program, 59 white South Africans have since immigrated to the US as refugees. Ebrahim Rasool, the South African ambassador to the US, was also kicked out in May.
In an effort to repair the two countries’ deteriorating relations, President Cyril Ramaphosa confronted his counterpart with old clips from Malema’s rallies and songs and rehashed allegations that white people were being targeted.
Ramaphosa explained that Malema’s EFF opposes the president’s ANC party and does not belong in the ruling coalition. He also told Trump that he was correct when he said that white South Africans were the target of high crime rates.
At the event, former Trump adviser Elon Musk was also present. Mussk, who is a citizen of South Africa, has previously accused the politician of “actively promoting white genocide” by posting clips of Malema’s songs.
How do things generally stand between South Africa and the US?
Between the US and South Africa, there are still significant differences. Ronald Lamola, the foreign minister of South Africa, criticized Washington and the US for their treatment of white South Africans in a press interview on Wednesday.
