Rishi Sunak won't rule out spending millions more on Rwanda amid secrecy row

01 December 2023 , 10:00

960 0

RIshi Sunak is drawing up emergency legislation on the Rwanda scheme (Image: PA)

Rishi Sunak has refused to rule out ploughing millions of pounds more into resurrecting the Rwanda deal - amid growing pressure to reveal its true cost.

The Prime Minister is drawing up emergency legislation in a desperate attempt to get around a court ruling that the deportation scheme is illegal. Top Supreme Court judges torpedoed the project after ruling that the African nation isn't a safe place to send asylum seekers.

So far the UK has handed over a confirmed £140million to the Rwandan government, and this week a top civil servant hinted the true sum could be even higher. That's despite ministers failing to send a single asylum seeker there since a deal was agreed between the two governments last April.

Speaking to reporters on a flight to Dubai for the COP28 summit, Mr Sunak declined to say if there was a limit on how much he's willing to spend. He said: "Well I think the thing I’d say is we are already, incredibly frustratingly for the British people and the taxpayer, spending billions to house illegal migrants in hotels, especially, and that’s not right,"

He claimed that taxpayers stand to save billions of pounds if the controversial project works. In spite of top judges at the UK's highest court ruling Rwanda is unsafe for asylum seekers, largely due to the risk of them being sent to their homeland, the PM plans to get Parliament to declare it is safe.

Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade

He said: "I want the next stage of this is for us to bring forward legislation to make it unequivocally clear, and Parliament will be able to confirm that, that Rwanda is safe for the purpose of operationalising this scheme and thereby making sure there are no more domestic blockers to the proper functioning of this scheme."

And the under-fire Prime Minister continued: “We are doing everything right … we will bring forward this legislation, it will be crystal clear and then I expect to get this scheme up and running.”

The Government is under growing pressure to reveal how much the Rwanda scheme has cost. Even Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson, a passionate supporter of the project, voiced his frustration over the lack of transparency.

On Wednesday a top Home Office official didn't deny that more cash could have been given to the Rwandan government, but told MPs they'd have to wait months to find out. Sir Matthew Rycroft told the cross-party Home Affairs Select Committee: "So there are additional payments each year and ministers have decided that the way to keep you and other colleagues in Parliament updated is once a year to set out the total additional payments to the government of Rwanda.

"And we'll do that in the annual report and accounts." The UK handed over an initial £120million when the deportation deal was agreed last year, and a further £20million covering 2023/24. But pressed on whether further sums have been paid, Sir Matthew said:"We will announce that in the normal way next summer."

Dame Diana Johnson, who chairs the committee, said it is hard to scrutinise the policy when the figures are being withheld. And Shadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock said handing over more money is an "affront to the hard-working British taxpayer".

Even Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson vented his fury, telling the committee: "I find this absolutely staggering that the big boss hasn't got a clue, not just on this question, but nearly every other question we've asked today."

Mr Sunak has previously said he expects a new treaty with Rwanda to address some of the concerns raised by Supreme Court judges. And ministers are working on emergency legislation they say will prevent legal challenges.

Sir Matthew said the Home Office is putting "finishing touches" to the new treaty.

* Follow Mirror Politics on Snapchat, Tiktok, Twitter and Facebook.