Britain is being stifled by soaring levels of immigration, US Vice President JD Vance has claimed.
In a blistering speech on Tuesday, Mr Vance accused Western nations of growing ‘lazy’ by relying on ‘cheap labour’ instead of driving productivity.
Addressing a room of tech bosses in Washington DC, he said: ‘I’d say that if you look in nearly every country, from Canada to the UK, that imported large amounts of cheap labour, you’ve seen productivity stagnate.
‘That’s not a total happenstance. I think that the connection is very direct.’
The vice-president delivered his remarks at a high-profile summit hosted by venture capitalist giant Andreessen Horowitz, where he argued that the US had also been hooked on ‘cheap labour’ for decades due to ’40 years of failed economic policy’.
He also defended President Donald Trump’s controversial use of tariffs, saying they were a ‘necessary tool to protect our jobs and out industries from other countries’.
Mr Trump recently slapped 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports – with some delays until April 2 – and suggested the idea of imposing eye-watering 200 percent tariffs on European wine and spirits.
Britain has already been dragged into Mr Trump’s trade war after he implemented 25 per cent tariffs on iron and steel imports in a move that could further rattle the UK’s already fragile economy.
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US Vice President JD Vance speaks during the 2025 American Dynamism Summit on March 18, in Washington, DC. The American Dynamism Summit brings together companies, executives, and government officials and is hosted by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz
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Vance also defended President Donald Trump ‘s controversial use of tariffs, saying they were a ‘necessary tool to protect our jobs and out industries from other countries’
Vance lays into Europe’s democratic practices during Munich address
Mr Vance insisted that tariffs, combined with advances in technology, would help America rebuild its manufacturing sector.
‘When you erect a tariff wall around a critical industry like auto manufacturing and you combine that with advanced robotics and lower energy costs and other tools that increase the productivity of US labour, you give American workers a multiplying effect,’ he said.
‘That, in turn, allows firms to make things here at a price-competitive basis.’
Mr Vance’s comments are likely to cause friction with Britain, as he has emerged as a sharp critic of the UK since taking office in January – despite his seemingly close ties with David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary.
At the Munich Security Conference in February, he blasted Britain and its allies for cracking down on free speech, citing the case of Adam Smith-Connor, who was arrested and convicted in 2022 for praying silently outside an abortion clinic.
Mr Smith-Connor told The Telegraph he was ‘delighted’ that Mr Vance was ‘exposing the reality’ of censorship in Britain.
Earlier this month, Mr Vance sparked fresh outrage after downplaying Britain’s military record, suggesting Britain was a ‘random country’ that had not ‘fought a war in 30 or 40 years’, which he later denied.
The US Vice President desperately attempted to clarify his comments after he sparked a furious backlash among military veterans and MPs from all parties.
He said this while he was referring to a potential peace deal to end the Ukraine war.
Mr Vance used a Fox News interview to pile pressure on Ukraine to sign a minerals deal with US President Donald Trump.
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At the Munich Security Conference in February, Vance blasted Britain and its allies for cracking down on free speech
Starmer and JD Vance clash over free speech in Europe and the UK
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It comes after a number of rants Mr Vance launched on European countries, including the UK, during the Munich security conference
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Mr Vance was accused of ‘erasing from history’ the sacrifice of UK personnel in those bloody conflicts, with his remarks labelled ‘deeply disrespectful’
He said this was ‘a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years’.
Seething ex-servicemen pointed out that 636 British troops died in Afghanistan and Iraq after the UK allied with the US in military action following the 9/11 terror attacks.
Mr Vance was accused of ‘erasing from history’ the sacrifice of UK personnel in those bloody conflicts, with his remarks labelled ‘deeply disrespectful’.
But the Vice President later strained to claw back his remarks amid the widespread anger at his intervention.
He claimed he had not been aiming his barb at Britain or France – who are the only two countries to publicly commit to a peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
Yet Mr Vance failed to clarify which nations he had been referring to.
His remarks were swiftly condemned, with critics pointing out Mr Vance’s own time in Iraq as a military journalist with the US Marine Corps in 2005.
Critics pointed to the huge list of countries who lost troops after joining US military action in Afghanistan after 9/11.
Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: ‘The PM and this country are full of admiration for UK troops who served in recent years in Iraq and Afghanistan alongside the US and other allies.’
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said Mr Vance was ‘wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong’.
‘For 20 years in Afghanistan – pro rata our size against America’s – we spent the same amount of money, we put the same number of men and women in, and we suffered the same losses,’ he told GB News, as he attended a farmers’ protest in Westminster.
‘We stood by America all through those 20 years, putting in exactly the same contribution.
‘And, all right, they may be six times bigger but we did our bit. So, on this one, JD is wrong.’
Mr Vance’s latest remarks will do little to smooth tensions as Britain grapples with sluggish growth and a mounting immigration crisis.