Labour: Rwanda treaty is 'not the answer'
Shadow Policing Minister Alex Norris said the Rwanda treaty is "not the answer" to a problem that "requires a serious answer." The minister said the Rwanda policy would not be part of Labour's approach to small boats as it fails to tackle criminal gangs. It comes as Home Secretary James Cleverly travelled to Rwanda yesterday to sign the new treaty in a bid to fulfil the government's plan to send asylum seekers to the African nation. Report by Kennedyl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 What we've seen with the government's plans on Rwanda are not serious attempts, they are
00:03 gimmicks, they're not an attempt to tackle what is a serious problem.
00:08 We're talking from what we've heard in the Court of Appeal previously that maybe 100
00:11 people may go.
00:12 Well last week alone 1,000 people crossed the channel and arrived in this country that
00:17 way.
00:18 This is not an answer to what is a problem that needs a serious answer.
00:20 My issue with this policy is not with Rwanda or the people of Rwanda, the issue is with
00:26 our government that they have a serious problem that people rightly expect is tackled and
00:31 rather than pursuing a solution that is likely to do so, they're pursuing and putting so
00:36 much time and not to mention £140 million of people's money into something that would
00:40 probably deal with a tenth of 1% even if it was at its furthest capacities.
00:45 If we were in government the Rwanda policy would not be part of our approach to small
00:48 boats.
00:49 We're waiting to see the legislation so it's not something I can comment on today but Rwanda
00:53 would not be part of our way forward.
00:56 Our way forward involves breaking up organised crime, our way forward involves better processing
01:00 of those applications of those people sat at home, £8 million worth of hotel accommodation
01:05 every day and better returns policies, that would be our approach.