Labor today vowed to ‘cancel’ deportation flights bringing migrants to Rwanda if it takes power and use millions of dollars in savings to build a new immigration police force.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper marked the £120m plan as ‘deeply damaging, expensive, unworkable and unethical’ as she spoke at the party conference.
She vowed to spend her savings on ‘a new cross-border police unit’ working with authorities in France to stop people-smuggling gangs.
She also revealed plans for an additional 13,000 police officers at a cost of £360 million. She echoed Tony Blair when she said Labor would be ‘tough on crime and tough on the cause of crime’.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson and former foreign minister Priti Patel announced a five-year agreement with Rwanda earlier this year.
But even that flight has yet to leave the ground after a series of legal challenges. Liz Truss has vowed to continue with the policy and possibly even expand it to other countries.
Ms. Cooper told the conference at
‘And unlike the Tories, we will be working with France to prevent dangerous small boats from crossing the Channel and endangering lives, with a new cross-border police unit to hunt down gangs criminals make millions of dollars from human trafficking and profiting from their lives, paid for by canceling the Rwanda scheme which is deeply damaging, extremely costly, unenforceable and unethical . ‘
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper marked the £120m plan as ‘deeply damaging, expensive, unworkable and unethical’ as she spoke at the party conference.
There are concerns that Rwanda’s plan could be left in legal limbo for more than a year due to more court challenges.
Officials fear the case will eventually face a final appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, causing further delays.
The number of small boat migrants to Britain since the beginning of the year has reached 32,321 people. September arrivals set a new monthly record.
Former interior secretary Priti Patel sanctioned a chartered Rwanda flight in June – but it was blocked by Strasbourg judge’s 11th hour intervention.
Earlier this month, the High Court in London scrutinized the legality of the policy in the first phase of the judicial review process, and will issue a ruling in late autumn. It was initially thought that Rwanda’s charter flights would be able to begin if the Interior Ministry won that case.
Officials are said to feel ‘positive’ about the prospect of success in the initial hearing but expect further legal challenges to be resolved.
Counselors are understood to have warned Ms. Braverman that she will have to wait until a series of appeals are heard.
Even if the Home Office wins in the Supreme Court, opponents of the Government are likely to take it to the Court of Appeal and potentially to the High Court.
