Morrissey believes immigration has destroyed Britain.

The outspoken former Smiths star claims the country has "lost its identity" and is paying a price for the mass immigration which has taken place in recent years.

Morrissey, who now lives in Los Angeles, fumed, "The higher the influx into Britain, the more the British identity disappears. The price is enormous.
"If you travel to Germany, it's still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden, it still has a Swedish identity. But travel to Britain and you have no idea where you are.

"If you walk through Knightsbridge in London on any bland day of the week you won't hear a single British accent but you'll hear every other accent under the sun.

"Britain is just a distant memory now. It seems to me that our country was thrown away.

"We have said goodbye to the Britain we once knew."

The 48-year-old singer believes the British government has been irresponsible by relaxing immigration laws.

He complained in an interview with NME magazine, "You have to be sensible about things. You can't say, 'Everybody come into my house, sit on my bed, have what you like, do what you like.' It wouldn't work."

Morrissey also claims "millions" of people are deserting Britain because of immigrants.

He said, "Millions of ordinary people are leaving the UK every year because they don't recognize the place, so what I am saying is not unique. If you travel to Croatia tomorrow for instance, and walked around Zagreb hearing nothing but Dublin accents, you would find it shocking."

When confronted over the controversial nature of his comments, Morrissey insisted, "What I'm saying is not inflammatory. It is a statement of fact."

This is not the first time Morrissey has caused controversy with his outspoken views.

In 1992, he sparked outrage when supporting ska band Madness during their 'Madstock!' concert at London's Finsbury Park.

Morrissey took to the stage draped in a Union Jack flag, in front of a vocal group of far-right National Front supporters in the crowd who had embraced the flag as their emblem.

He has since come in for criticism for lyrics in his 1988 song 'Bengali In Platforms' from his first solo album 'Viva Hate', which included the lines "Oh shelve your western plans/ And understand that life is hard enough when you belong here."