Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan enters its final reckoning today as the immigration enforcement authorities begin to mobilise measures passed by parliament last week. Predictably, the liberal commentariat is kicking off…
The Guardian breathlessly set the ball rolling over the weekend:
“The Home Office will launch a major operation to detain asylum seekers across the UK on Monday, weeks earlier than expected, in preparation for their deportation to Rwanda… Detainees will be immediately transferred to detention centres, which have already been prepared for the operation, and held until they are put on planes to Rwanda. Some will be put on the first flight due to take off this summer.“
Twitter wonk Sam Freedman called it “sick and twisted behaviour” and alleged it is an improper use of the civil service. Ian Dunt called the measures “obscene“. Caroline Lucas intoned that immigration enforcement doing its job is “performative cruelty“. Or: performing…
Meanwhile, Labour’s Wes Streeting carefully avoided criticising the action on weekend media. It appears to be a shock to social media liberals that Immigration Enforcement, Border Force and the police routinely put people in immigration detention for a variety of reasons. It’s the law…
Home Office minister Chris Philp had a cringeworthy moment on Question Time last night. When an audience member asked him whether people coming from Congo – a country that’s at war with Rwanda – would be sent on flights to Rwanda, Philp floundered. He said: “there’s an exclusion on people from Rwanda being sent to Rwanda.” The audience member reminded him that he was talking about Congo…
To which Philp questioned whether the two were different countries: “From Congo? well… Rwanda is a different country from Congo isn’t it?”. If ministers don’t understand the basics…
Sunak’s bill designating Rwanda as a safe country was approved by the Lords at 12:09 a.m. after Lord Anderson withdrew the final remaining amendment. In the fifth round of ping pong Anderson, whose amendment would have made had another body judge Rwanda safe (not just Parliament), said “the time has come to accept the primacy of the elected house and withdraw from the fray“. James Cleverly has put out a celebratory video. Sunak, meanwhile, says the “focus is to now get flights off the ground, and I am clear that nothing will stand in our way of doing that and saving lives.” The government has booked charter flights for June. That’s the easy bit over – it’s open lawfare now…
Downing Street is insisting the Rwanda bill is passed by the Lords tonight. Voting could continue into the early hours of the morning. Sunak says:
Sunak is using this to turn the spotlight on blocking Lords…
Sunak has put a lot at stake on his Rwanda policy going through, consistently committing to flights setting off in the spring. Though, as Guido has noted before, his definition of when spring is has never been clarified. Yesterday, Number 10 refused to confirm whether they’ll take off in spring. Now it seems Downing Street have dropped the season altogether…
When asked today at his welfare reform press conference whether flights will set off in spring or summer, having been pushed back thanks to the Lords’ amendments, Sunak said: “our intention is to get this done on Monday…so that after that we can soon as practically possible can get flights to leave to Rwanda”, refusing to mention a date let alone a season. Instead saying that the focus is getting the bill passed on Monday. The spin on spring is no more…
Sunak has put a lot at stake on flights taking off to Rwanda in order to fulfil his pledge to “stop the boats“. MPs will vote tonight on the Lords’ amendments to the Safety of Rwanda Bill, and Tory officials are confident the bill will be passed by Wednesday. Though grumbles from those against it over international law aren’t dying down…
Two years on from when the plan was first made, Guido reminds his readers of Rishi’s self-imposed deadline on getting flights off the ground. After the Supreme Court ruled Rwanda “unsafe” in November, Rishi still insisted “flights will be heading off in the spring as planned”. Yesterday, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said the government “very much plan[s]” for flights to take off “within weeks.” Though no one can confirm if the government has found an airline carrier yet, and there are still many hoops to jump through, especially if peers decide to stand firm on amendments this week. The end of Spring is fast approaching, Rishi…
