In case £140 million (€163 million) was not enough to spend on the ‘Rwanda Plan,’ which has been talked of for well over one-and-a-half years but has resulted in zero deportations, the prime minister has decided to chuck in at least another £15 million (€17.5 million).
The money will be used to pay for “extra personnel” in the African nation to help “improve and expand” its asylum processing system, according to The Sunday Times. Rishi Sunak hopes this will sufficiently address the concerns of the Supreme Court, which last month ruled the plan to remove illegal migrants for asylum processing in Rwanda unlawful due to the risk of migrants being returned by Rwandan authorities to their own country where they could face persecution.
Just one week after Home Secretary James Cleverly made it quite clear that the scheme will never succeed, venting his “frustration … that we have allowed the narrative to be created that this was the be all and end all,” Sunak attempted to justify increased spending by describing the Rwanda ‘Plan’ as “crucial”—that is, as the be-all and end-all.
But Cleverly was on the money. The Times report revealed that the government “wants” legislation addressing the Supreme Court’s concerns to pass through Parliament by mid-February. If the Rwanda Plan’s current record is anything to go by, the actual date is likely to be much later—if, that is, the legislation passes at all.
After this, a government source added, “It would take at least [another] two months … for the policy to become operational and for flights to take off.” Britons should be advised not to hold their breaths.
On Monday, a senior Home Office official also told the paper that Sunak’s efforts to fend off legal challenges amount to nothing more than a “political gimmick” because “the government can’t legislate its way out of the Supreme Court judgement.” This pours further doubt on the suggestion that deportation flights could begin in April or May.
It is no wonder the prime minister won’t commit to there being any flights before the next election, after which time the Tories are likely to be thrown out of office and the whole ‘Rwanda Plan,’ which has brought Britain nothing but humiliation, will be chucked off the books.
Sunak Spending Millions More on Failed Rwanda Migration Plan
Sean Aidan Calderbank / Shutterstock.com
In case £140 million (€163 million) was not enough to spend on the ‘Rwanda Plan,’ which has been talked of for well over one-and-a-half years but has resulted in zero deportations, the prime minister has decided to chuck in at least another £15 million (€17.5 million).
The money will be used to pay for “extra personnel” in the African nation to help “improve and expand” its asylum processing system, according to The Sunday Times. Rishi Sunak hopes this will sufficiently address the concerns of the Supreme Court, which last month ruled the plan to remove illegal migrants for asylum processing in Rwanda unlawful due to the risk of migrants being returned by Rwandan authorities to their own country where they could face persecution.
Just one week after Home Secretary James Cleverly made it quite clear that the scheme will never succeed, venting his “frustration … that we have allowed the narrative to be created that this was the be all and end all,” Sunak attempted to justify increased spending by describing the Rwanda ‘Plan’ as “crucial”—that is, as the be-all and end-all.
But Cleverly was on the money. The Times report revealed that the government “wants” legislation addressing the Supreme Court’s concerns to pass through Parliament by mid-February. If the Rwanda Plan’s current record is anything to go by, the actual date is likely to be much later—if, that is, the legislation passes at all.
After this, a government source added, “It would take at least [another] two months … for the policy to become operational and for flights to take off.” Britons should be advised not to hold their breaths.
On Monday, a senior Home Office official also told the paper that Sunak’s efforts to fend off legal challenges amount to nothing more than a “political gimmick” because “the government can’t legislate its way out of the Supreme Court judgement.” This pours further doubt on the suggestion that deportation flights could begin in April or May.
It is no wonder the prime minister won’t commit to there being any flights before the next election, after which time the Tories are likely to be thrown out of office and the whole ‘Rwanda Plan,’ which has brought Britain nothing but humiliation, will be chucked off the books.
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