Ending the migrant influx will shake Britain out of its laziness, says Ramsay
Celebrity chef rejects bitter rival Jamie Oliver’s complaints over effect of Brexit on restaurant trade
BREXIT will shake Britain out of laziness and give homegrown talent a chance to shine, Gordon Ramsay has said.
The chef said he was looking forward to an end to the “influx” of migrants after Britain leaves the European Union and claimed it would have a positive effect on the restaurant industry.
His optimism contrasts with his rival Jamie Oliver, who campaigned for Remain and blamed the closure of six of his Italian restaurants on the uncertainty that followed the Brexit vote.
A curb on migrant labour would create opportunities, Ramsay told Radio Times. “That level of influx of multinational workers in this country has sort of confirmed how lazy as a nation we are – when individuals from across the seas are prepared to come and work twice as hard for less money,” he said.
“If anything, it’s a big kick up the a--for the industry, and it’s going to get back to the modern-day apprenticeship. So not only do I welcome that kind of change, but I think it’s going to put a lot more emphasis on homegrown talent.”
There is no love lost between Ramsay and Oliver. “It’s all very well to spout off now about sugar tax and supermarkets. None of that was spoken about when he was label-slapping with Sainsbury’s for 10 years,” Ramsay said. He was referring to Oliver’s decade as the face of the supermarket chain, a job reported to have earned him £10million. “Sadly, the only time he opens his mouth is when he’s got something to promote,” Ramsay added.
In August, asked about Ramsay making regular jibes at him, Oliver said: “He’s got four kids and I’ve got five kids and I don’t want to be slagging off some kids’ dad on telly. It’s not nice.”
It appeared to be an attempt to bury the hatchet, but Ramsay said the remark was hurtful because his wife, Tana, miscarried their fifth child last year. She was “mortified” by Oliver’s remark and Ramsay said he will never talk to Oliver again until he apologises.
The Michelin-starred chef gave the interview to promote a new ITV documentary about the cocaine trade.
He said teenagers should be taught about cocaine, explaining that he sat his children down and showed them how the drug is often cut with cement powder or battery acid. It “scared the life out of them”, he said.
He added that children should be given drugs education in the same way that they receive sex education.
Ramsay said cocaine is rife in the restaurant industry, recalling an occasion last Christmas when a customer asked for a side plate to be changed because he had used it to snort the class-a drug in the bathroom.
A chef at a celebrity book launch pressed a foil wrap of cocaine into his palm during a handshake, Ramsay claimed.
On another occasion, while cooking for a dinner party he was asked to dust the soufflés with cocaine mixed into the icing sugar. He declined.
‘That level of influx of multinational workers has sort of confirmed how lazy as a nation we are’