This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/23/rwanda-flights-not-leave-before-general-election-rishi-sunak
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Rwanda flights will not take off before general election, says Sunak | Rwanda flights will not take off before general election, says Sunak |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Rishi Sunak says deportation flights will leave in July if he is re-elected as prime minister | |
| Rishi Sunak has said deportation flights to Rwanda will not leave before the election, saying the scheme would be “up and running” if he was re-elected prime minister. | Rishi Sunak has said deportation flights to Rwanda will not leave before the election, saying the scheme would be “up and running” if he was re-elected prime minister. |
| In his first interviews after calling the snap poll, the prime minister said the flights would leave in July, with the caveat: “If I am re-elected as prime minister on 5 July, these flights will go.” | |
| Pressed further on timing by LBC radio, he said: “No, after the election. The preparation work has already gone on.” | |
| Labour has said it would not deport migrants to Rwanda if the party wins the election, saying it would set up a new border force command using £75m from the existing budget for the Rwanda scheme. | |
| Sunak told BBC Breakfast this plan amounted to an “amnesty” for new migrants who arrive illegally, who now have no routes to apply for asylum. | |
| Sunak said: “If you want border security, if you want to restore fairness to our migration system, there’s a clear choice, and I’m the one that’s prepared to take bold action. | Sunak said: “If you want border security, if you want to restore fairness to our migration system, there’s a clear choice, and I’m the one that’s prepared to take bold action. |
| “I believe the only way to fully solve this problem is to have a deterrent. To make it crystal clear that if you come to our country illegally, you won’t be able to stay and we’ll be able to remove you to a safe third country alternative.” | “I believe the only way to fully solve this problem is to have a deterrent. To make it crystal clear that if you come to our country illegally, you won’t be able to stay and we’ll be able to remove you to a safe third country alternative.” |
| Sunak said Labour’s plan would make the UK “a soft touch. Europe will be a magnet for illegal migrants from everywhere.” | Sunak said Labour’s plan would make the UK “a soft touch. Europe will be a magnet for illegal migrants from everywhere.” |
| Sign up to Headlines UK | Sign up to Headlines UK |
| Get the day’s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning | Get the day’s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning |
| after newsletter promotion | after newsletter promotion |
| Pressed on whether any flights to Rwanda would take off, after previous promises they would go within 12 weeks, Sunak said: “The first flights will go in July, and we’ve already put the preparations in place for that. We’ve hired hundreds of caseworkers, identified the cohort … we’ve already started detaining people. We’ve hired the escorts we’ve got an airfield on standby. We’ve booked the flight. So all of that work is already ongoing. | Pressed on whether any flights to Rwanda would take off, after previous promises they would go within 12 weeks, Sunak said: “The first flights will go in July, and we’ve already put the preparations in place for that. We’ve hired hundreds of caseworkers, identified the cohort … we’ve already started detaining people. We’ve hired the escorts we’ve got an airfield on standby. We’ve booked the flight. So all of that work is already ongoing. |
| “And then the choice of this election is clear, because if I’m re-elected as prime minister on 5 July, these flights will go, we will get our Rwanda scheme up and running, we will ensure that we have a deterrent and that’s how we’re going to break the cycle of these gangs.” | |
| Responding to Sunak’s comments on the Rwanda fights, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson, Alistair Carmichael MP, said: “This is an utter humiliation and admission of defeat from a prime minister who has thrown millions at his failing vanity project. | |
| “The Rwanda scheme has been an immoral and expensive disaster from day one. To think that the money already spent on this failing policy could have paid for nearly 7m GP appointments instead just adds insult to injury.” | |
| Sunak’s scheme was hit by another setback last week after a high court judge in Northern Ireland ruled it undermines human rights protections guaranteed in the region under post-Brexit arrangements. | Sunak’s scheme was hit by another setback last week after a high court judge in Northern Ireland ruled it undermines human rights protections guaranteed in the region under post-Brexit arrangements. |
| Sunak was also challenged on his promise to improve the economy, admitting there was “more to do” for people to feel the effects of lower inflation. | Sunak was also challenged on his promise to improve the economy, admitting there was “more to do” for people to feel the effects of lower inflation. |
| “I think people are only starting to feel the benefits of the changes we brought to the economy, because it has been an incredibly tough few years, the Covid pandemic, a war in Ukraine, the impact on energy bills, that’s not going to magically change overnight, but we are making progress. | “I think people are only starting to feel the benefits of the changes we brought to the economy, because it has been an incredibly tough few years, the Covid pandemic, a war in Ukraine, the impact on energy bills, that’s not going to magically change overnight, but we are making progress. |
| “And the inflation news is good evidence of that inflation back to normal and actually faster than our major rivals like America and the eurozone. Similarly, our economy growing now again at healthy pace, wages have been rising ahead of prices for almost a year now, energy bills are falling. So those are all signs that our economic plan is working.” | “And the inflation news is good evidence of that inflation back to normal and actually faster than our major rivals like America and the eurozone. Similarly, our economy growing now again at healthy pace, wages have been rising ahead of prices for almost a year now, energy bills are falling. So those are all signs that our economic plan is working.” |