The Thick Of It creator, Armando Iannucci, has accused the Conservative Party of stealing their new immigration plan from a 2009 special episode entitled ‘The Rise of the Nutters’.
Under new proposals put forward by Rishi Sunak, MPs would get a vote on annual government proposals aimed at regularly reducing numbers, which would be based on recommendations from the expert Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).
The Conservatives have also proposed an annual cap on worker and family visas to ensure immigration figures fall year on year in a future parliament.
It comes as Nigel Farage announced he is returning to the fore, giving the Tories a fresh headache as their supporter base crumbles ahead of the general election on July 4th.
Labour’s Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary, pointed to net migration trebling and accused the Tories of “rehashing failed announcements”.
But they could be doing worse than that, with Scottish satirist Iannucci saying the plans originate from a 2009 special of the hit show, The Thick Of It.
In the 2009 special, the protagonist Malcolm Tucker gets spooked about his position in government after speculating that the prime minister’s handover to Tom Davis is expected in less than six months.
Tucker conspires with Ollie Reeder to leak the prime minister’s “legacy programme” to the press, which consists of plans to move the handling of immigration policy to a non-political executive board in the hope of stalling his departure.
But the plan inadvertently leads to the PM resigning early in a classic own goal.
Let’s wait to see how this one plays out in real life!
Related: Next government needs plan for growth within 100 days, says CBI