Some Tory MP who can only be a stooge going by the heckling he got standing up just asked “Can I just clarify if people don’t want to go to Rwanda, they can claim asylum in France?” and accuses labour of being out of touch with the public. Which to be fair is probably true as the majority of voters in this country seem to be xenophobic.
And then our Home Secretary smirks and says “I can confirm that France is a safe country”.
Priti Patel defends Government’s record on help for refugees
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, is up in the House of Commons to set out the Government’s new immigration plan, announced last week. The centre piece of the plan is a policy which will see asylum seekers who arrive illegally in the UK sent to Rwanda for processing.
Ms Patel told MPs: “The United Kingdom has a long and proud history of offering sanctuary to refugees. In recent years alone we have welcomed more than 185,000 people through safe and legal routes, including from Syria, h9ong Kong, Afghanistan and more recently Ukraine.
“In addition we have welcomed more than 40,000 people in recent years through our refugee family reunion routes.
“This Government has done more than any other in recent history to support those fleeing persecution, conflict or instability.
“But we cannot focus our support on those who need it most or effectively control our borders without tackling illegal migration which is facilitated by people smugglers, serious organised criminals that profit from human misery who do not care about people drowning in the Channel or suffocating in the back of containers.”
3:56PM
Priti Patel insists ‘fairness’ is at the heart of new immigration plan
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, told MPs: “At the heart of this Government’s approach is a simple principle: Fairness.
“Access to the UK’s asylum system should be based on need, not on the ability to pay people smugglers.”
4:03PM
Priti Patel defends Rwanda plan
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, has defended the Government’s Rwanda plan, telling MPs it will “deal a major blow to the people smugglers and their evil trade in human cargo”.
She said: “Everyone who is considered for relocation will be screened and interviewed, including an age assessment, and have access to legal services.”
She added: “Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK on illegal and dangerous routes.
“This partnership is the type of international cooperation needed to make the global immigration system fairer, keep people safe and give them opportunities to flourish.”
4:08PM
Yvette Cooper slams ‘unworkable’ Rwanda plan
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, has told Priti Patel the Government’s Rwanda plan is “unworkable” as she claimed the policy was announced to “distract” from the “partygate” scandal.
She said: “We have seen over the last week this unworkable, shameful and desperate attempt to distract from the Prime Minister’s law breaking that the Home Secretary should not go along with because she is undermining not just respect for the rule of law but also her office by providing cover for him.
“The policies that she has announced today are unworkable, unethical and extortionate in the cost for the British taxpayer.”
4:15PM
Theresa May says she does not support Rwanda plan
Theresa May, the former prime minister and former home secretary, said she does not support the Government’s Rwanda plan.
She told Priti Patel in the House of Commons: “Can I say with respect to my right honourable friend and from what I have heard and seen so far of this policy, I do not support the removal to Rwanda policy on the grounds of legality, practicality and efficacy.
“But I want to ask her about one very specific issue, I understand that those who will be removed will only be young men… if it is the case that families will not be broken up… does she not believe and where is her evidence that this will not simply lead to an increase in the trafficking of women and children?”
Ms Patel said she would be “very happy to meet with the right honourable lady to discuss this further”.
Even though current asylum seekers in the UK are costing the taxpayer £1.5 billion per year, that number pales in comparison to the £4 billion it would cost to enact the Rwanda plan. And they say the Tories are the economically responsible Party!
Notably she isn’t objecting on a basic human decency front, I mean she was a pretty cruel and vile home secretary herself, no just on the practicalities of the scheme and its costs.
Can we just dump priti Patel in Rwanda along with this scheme? God knows we don’t want her or her awful policies
The creator of the Hostile Environment policy herself. Her statement is correct and Patel’s idea is beyond horrific, I don’t believe that May is as horrified as she might proclaim though. A woman considered so overzealous about immigration that Cameron would hide from her to avoid speaking to her about it. She is just trying to distance herself from her protege.
It’s exactly the sort of ill-conceived nonsense that we expect from Tories.
“Oh, it will disrupt people-smugglers” … no, it fucking won’t. The people they are smuggling will keep coming, so what if you send a ***tiny*** proportion to Rwanda, it’s just another “if I get caught”…without doing anything extra to actually catch them.
You know things are bad when that fundamentalist old witch says it’s too cruel
I think EU should rent an island with low population density big enough to house half a million people and house most asylum seekers there.
Build proper infrastructure, offer work, collect taxes.
It would keep Europe safer and would be economically sustainable.
Considering how when May was the Home Sec her office did not have a good reputation & she was seen as someone who canvassed opinion but did NOT listen etc…
basically if she’s got a conscience over this after wanting to make migration horrible for people…dear god.
What will happen is a handful of guys will end up in Rawanda and then not much else.
Even if this plan were workable in theory, it will fail in execution.
Okay, so I am a bit OOTL. Are they saying they want to send people who aren’t Rwandan to Rwanda? For seeking asylum?
Edit: seriously, I don’t understand this whole situation, can someone explain? Please?
She wont vote against it. In her typical style she’ll just abstain.
Oh did they? I only remember Turkey threatening to push them into EU
15 comments
Some Tory MP who can only be a stooge going by the heckling he got standing up just asked “Can I just clarify if people don’t want to go to Rwanda, they can claim asylum in France?” and accuses labour of being out of touch with the public. Which to be fair is probably true as the majority of voters in this country seem to be xenophobic.
And then our Home Secretary smirks and says “I can confirm that France is a safe country”.
Fucking arseholes.
From [Telegraph live blog](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/04/19/boris-johnson-news-apology-commons-lockdown-parties-ukraine/):
3:47PM
Priti Patel defends Government’s record on help for refugees
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, is up in the House of Commons to set out the Government’s new immigration plan, announced last week. The centre piece of the plan is a policy which will see asylum seekers who arrive illegally in the UK sent to Rwanda for processing.
Ms Patel told MPs: “The United Kingdom has a long and proud history of offering sanctuary to refugees. In recent years alone we have welcomed more than 185,000 people through safe and legal routes, including from Syria, h9ong Kong, Afghanistan and more recently Ukraine.
“In addition we have welcomed more than 40,000 people in recent years through our refugee family reunion routes.
“This Government has done more than any other in recent history to support those fleeing persecution, conflict or instability.
“But we cannot focus our support on those who need it most or effectively control our borders without tackling illegal migration which is facilitated by people smugglers, serious organised criminals that profit from human misery who do not care about people drowning in the Channel or suffocating in the back of containers.”
3:56PM
Priti Patel insists ‘fairness’ is at the heart of new immigration plan
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, told MPs: “At the heart of this Government’s approach is a simple principle: Fairness.
“Access to the UK’s asylum system should be based on need, not on the ability to pay people smugglers.”
4:03PM
Priti Patel defends Rwanda plan
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, has defended the Government’s Rwanda plan, telling MPs it will “deal a major blow to the people smugglers and their evil trade in human cargo”.
She said: “Everyone who is considered for relocation will be screened and interviewed, including an age assessment, and have access to legal services.”
She added: “Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK on illegal and dangerous routes.
“This partnership is the type of international cooperation needed to make the global immigration system fairer, keep people safe and give them opportunities to flourish.”
4:08PM
Yvette Cooper slams ‘unworkable’ Rwanda plan
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, has told Priti Patel the Government’s Rwanda plan is “unworkable” as she claimed the policy was announced to “distract” from the “partygate” scandal.
She said: “We have seen over the last week this unworkable, shameful and desperate attempt to distract from the Prime Minister’s law breaking that the Home Secretary should not go along with because she is undermining not just respect for the rule of law but also her office by providing cover for him.
“The policies that she has announced today are unworkable, unethical and extortionate in the cost for the British taxpayer.”
4:15PM
Theresa May says she does not support Rwanda plan
Theresa May, the former prime minister and former home secretary, said she does not support the Government’s Rwanda plan.
She told Priti Patel in the House of Commons: “Can I say with respect to my right honourable friend and from what I have heard and seen so far of this policy, I do not support the removal to Rwanda policy on the grounds of legality, practicality and efficacy.
“But I want to ask her about one very specific issue, I understand that those who will be removed will only be young men… if it is the case that families will not be broken up… does she not believe and where is her evidence that this will not simply lead to an increase in the trafficking of women and children?”
Ms Patel said she would be “very happy to meet with the right honourable lady to discuss this further”.
Even though current asylum seekers in the UK are costing the taxpayer £1.5 billion per year, that number pales in comparison to the £4 billion it would cost to enact the Rwanda plan. And they say the Tories are the economically responsible Party!
Notably she isn’t objecting on a basic human decency front, I mean she was a pretty cruel and vile home secretary herself, no just on the practicalities of the scheme and its costs.
Can we just dump priti Patel in Rwanda along with this scheme? God knows we don’t want her or her awful policies
The creator of the Hostile Environment policy herself. Her statement is correct and Patel’s idea is beyond horrific, I don’t believe that May is as horrified as she might proclaim though. A woman considered so overzealous about immigration that Cameron would hide from her to avoid speaking to her about it. She is just trying to distance herself from her protege.
It’s exactly the sort of ill-conceived nonsense that we expect from Tories.
“Oh, it will disrupt people-smugglers” … no, it fucking won’t. The people they are smuggling will keep coming, so what if you send a ***tiny*** proportion to Rwanda, it’s just another “if I get caught”…without doing anything extra to actually catch them.
You know things are bad when that fundamentalist old witch says it’s too cruel
I think EU should rent an island with low population density big enough to house half a million people and house most asylum seekers there.
Build proper infrastructure, offer work, collect taxes.
It would keep Europe safer and would be economically sustainable.
Considering how when May was the Home Sec her office did not have a good reputation & she was seen as someone who canvassed opinion but did NOT listen etc…
basically if she’s got a conscience over this after wanting to make migration horrible for people…dear god.
What will happen is a handful of guys will end up in Rawanda and then not much else.
Even if this plan were workable in theory, it will fail in execution.
Okay, so I am a bit OOTL. Are they saying they want to send people who aren’t Rwandan to Rwanda? For seeking asylum?
Edit: seriously, I don’t understand this whole situation, can someone explain? Please?
She wont vote against it. In her typical style she’ll just abstain.
Oh did they? I only remember Turkey threatening to push them into EU
I predict this will not go well:
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/refugees-migrants-israel-britain-rwanda-b2060595.html