Downing Street has denied that the Government’s decision to scrap the scheme to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda was racist after James Cleverly suggested it showed a “disdainful attitude” to Rwanda.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman rejected a suggestion by the shadow home secretary that there was a racial element to the Labour Government deciding to nix the agreement, saying the scheme was scrapped because it was ineffective.
Mr Cleverly told Times Radio that the Labour Government cancelled the agreement with the Rwandan government “without even having the good grace to contact them directly to inform them”, which he said would not have happened had the deal been with a European country.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman rejected the suggestion that racism was at play in the decision to scrap the scheme.
He told reporters: “The decision to scrap the scheme was based on the scheme being a completely ineffective policy.
“You’ve seen the situation where small boat crossings are at a record high this year. Clearly, the current system is not working.
“So that was why the Home Secretary laid out the next steps yesterday to clear the backlog and protect our border, investing the money that would have gone to Rwanda into law enforcement needed to protect our border, intensifying our returns and enforcement program and getting the asylum system moving again.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Monday that the Rwanda deportation scheme cost Britain £700 million despite only four volunteers being sent to Kigali.
She called the policy the “most shocking waste of taxpayer money I have ever seen”.
