{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreigqdhpdg3qgfusf2d2wtpeqarswalulovvsehsugwfsoyzs6wkle4",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:oznbnvgr7dmvddiyvr7dih52/app.bsky.feed.post/3mionegpasuw2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreiagaaox64smpjupbfsp4xiouelzcjzz7okugfibtknnuawl6twst4"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 87784
  },
  "path": "/news/citizenship-row-gb-news-host-forced-intervene-guests-descend-fiery-dispute",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-04T15:29:24.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Easter ‘woodland retreat’ for illegal migrants AXED after ‘violent backlash’ from locals",
    "Migrant who fled Iranian regime ‘depressed’ after being sent to Gateshead",
    "Labour MP sparks fury after calling for thousands of migrants to be given permanent residency",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nGB News host Nana Akua was forced to intervene during a fiery debate after one panellist branded another \"pathetic\" and \"desperate\".\n\nDuring a bitter row over British citizenship, commentator Stella Tsantekidou was outraged as fellow panellist Aman Bhogal argued that foreign nationals should \"not be given Universal Credit\" unless they are a British citizen.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nIn complete disagreement with Mr Bhogal, Ms Tsantekidou said she was \"personally offended\" by his stance, given that she herself is a foreign national living and working in Britain.\n\nMs Tsantekidou told GB News: \"I have lived here for 13 and a half years. I am not a British citizen because applying for the British citizenship costs £2,000.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"I did not have £2,000 lying around, and I do not have a British citizenship. Tell me, if I fall sick tomorrow and I cannot work, should I be allowed to claim benefits?\"\n\nMr Bhogal simply replied: \"No.\"\n\nPressing him again, Ms Tsantekidou asked: \"At what point do you believe that a person like me has sufficiently worked for long enough, paid into the tax system for long enough, deserves to not go homeless, to not be able to pay for my rent or for my food?\"\n\nMr Bhogal declared that there is a \"very simple answer\" to her question, stating: \"It is as soon as you want to become a citizen.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nWeighing in on the debate, Nana interjected: \"If you want the benefits of being a citizen of this country and you're qualified to do that, then pay for it. That's what happens in other countries. You don't get anything if you're a foreign national suffering in those countries.\n\n\"If you're a foreign national and you go to the US, they say, well, you should have insurance, we're not paying for you. So I don't think that's hostile or horrible. You've come to this country, you love this country, you live in this country you've lived for many, many years. It's £2,000.\"\n\nBecoming increasingly more infuriated with Mr Bhogal, Ms Tsantekidou then asked: \"I was a rich banker and after five years I got a British citizenship, are you telling me that this banker who lived here for five years is more devoted to this country than me, who has lived here for 13 and a half years?\"\n\nMr Bhogal made clear: \"This is exactly the sense of entitlement by foreigners, by immigrants who refuse to have enough of an affinity with Britain to come here and say, you know what? I've been here for this many years, I've been here for that many years, and therefore I have paid this much into the system, and I'm entitled to the same level of support as a citizen. Now, that simply isn't how the world works.\"\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Easter ‘woodland retreat’ for illegal migrants AXED after ‘violent backlash’ from locals\n  * Migrant who fled Iranian regime ‘depressed’ after being sent to Gateshead\n  * Labour MP sparks fury after calling for thousands of migrants to be given permanent residency\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nSwiping at Mr Bhogal, Ms Tsantekidou hit back: \"I think that you sound really pathetic, if I'm honest, because you just sound like you're so desperate.\"\n\nInterjecting Ms Tsantekidou, Nana shut down the attack: \"All right, come on, let's just stop with no name calling.\n\n\"I respect your point of view, but you don't call people names, so why is he sounding pathetic by giving his point of view? That doesn't make sense to me.\"\n\nMs Tsantekidou said: \"Because this is just a reactionary view. Why should I not feel offended about the fact that this person is challenging my devotion to the UK?\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nNana made clear: \"You're entitled to feel offended, but you are not entitled to call each other names or to call his point of view pathetic, but I do share his perspective, I have to be honest.\n\n\"Because if I go to any other country around the world, most countries would not give me money. I would not be entitled to all their benefits, despite how many years I spent in it. If you have qualified for citizenship, then you can pay the amount to be a citizen because it is valuable to be a citizen of this country, and then all those things that you require will be available to you.\"\n\nNana concluded: \"You probably have a mobile phone, you spend on packages for TV, radio or whatever it is, but yet, when it comes to paying £2,000 to show the value of being a citizen in this country, people seem to be up in arms.\n\n\"Yet you expect the country to keep forking out time and time again. If you're sick and everything else like that, pay your £2,000, you're entitled to be a citizen, and then that's that.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "'Pathetic!' GB News host forced to intervene as guests descend into FIERY British citizenship row"
}