Defence Secretary Grant Shapps was left grappling for answers as Sky News journalist Kay Burley exposed a glaring inconsistency in the government’s contentious Rwanda plan, asking why the UK had granted asylum to six Rwandans while insisting the country is a safe haven for deported asylum seekers.
The plan, a cornerstone of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s strategy to “stop the boats,” faces a critical parliamentary vote this week. It aims to deport asylum seekers arriving via illegal means to Rwanda.
Burley said: “You say Rwanda is a safe place to send people, but the British government has granted asylum to six more people from Rwanda, considering asylum claims from others as well. If it’s a safe place to send people, why are we allowing people to come here to seek asylum from Rwanda?”
Stumped Shapps replied “Well, look, I don’t know the specifics of those cases.”
He continued: “What I do know is the UN sent people to Rwanda, and the UN do it without all the different security measures or reassurance measures we are putting in place with Rwanda. If it’s good enough for the UN, it’s good enough for the UK.”
The host circled to press the question again: “Yeah, but my point is, why offer asylum to people from Rwanda if we think it’s a safe place?”
“Well as ever,” the defence secretary said, “and I’ve learned from long experience, what you actually
Continuing he deferred to the United Nations practice of sending people to Rwanda.
But Burley was quick to clarify that the UN uses Rwanda only as a temporary stop, not a final destination. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in fact, has condemned the UK scheme as evading international obligations and being contrary to the Refugee Convention.
Burley then playfully suggested she run down the details of the cases but spared Shapps the embarrassment before moving on to tease him about reports in the Telegraph on a YouGov survey that found he’s set to lose his seat in Commons at the upcoming General Election.
The newspaper reported Monday that the Conservative government face a “1997-style general election wipeout” which saw the election of New Labour leader Sir Tony Blair.