Tory James Cleverly's own flight to Rwanda delayed after deportations hold up
Home Secretary James Cleverly’s plane to Rwanda to sign a deportation deal was delayed - after months of Tories moaning about judges delaying flights to Rwanda.
The top Tory jetted into the capital Kigali today to sign a treaty the Government hopes can save its plan to send Channel migrants to the east African country. But, in an irony that will not be lost on Conservative critics, aviation records on tracking website FlightRadar24 show the Cabinet Minister’s A321 aircraft’s departure was delayed from Stansted Airport.
Flight KRF645 had been due to take off at 10.20pm on Monday but eventually left the Essex terminal 36 minutes later. The plane, which has the tail number registration G-GBNI and is emblazoned with the UK Government Union Flag livery, is operated by Titan Airways. It landed in Kigali 19 minutes late, having been scheduled for a 7.04am touch down UK time, but eventually on the ground at 9.23am.
The embarrassing delay came as Mr Cleverly travelled to Rwanda in a bid to make the plan to send migrants to the African nation legally watertight after the Supreme Court's ruling against the policy. The first deportation flight of migrants heading for Rwanda was due to take off from the Ministry of Defence base at Boscombe Down, Wilts, on June 14, 2022.
A handful of migrants were already on board the jet for the planned 4,000-mile flight from the military airfield when, 40 minutes before the Boeing 767-35D - chartered at an estimated cost to taxpayers of £500,000 - was due for departure, a judge with the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights scuppered the sortie. The decision outraged ministers and Tory backbenchers, who blasted the court for delaying the measure.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
In Kigali today, Mr Cleverly will meet his counterpart, Vincent Biruta, to sign the treaty and discuss key next steps on the countries' migration and economic development partnership, the Home Office said. He will also visit the genocide memorial in the capital and staff at the British High Commission during his first overseas visit as Home Secretary.
Ministers hope the upgraded agreement along with "emergency" legislation at home will address the issues that led the UK's highest court to rule the Rwanda scheme unlawful.
Ahead of his arrival, Mr Cleverly said: "We are clear that Rwanda is a safe country, and we are working at pace to move forward with this partnership to stop the boats and save lives. The Supreme Court recognised that changes may be delivered in future to address the conclusions they reached - and that is what we have set out to do together, with this new, internationally recognised treaty agreement. Rwanda cares deeply about the rights of refugees, and I look forward to meeting with counterparts to sign this agreement and further discuss how we work together tackle the global challenge of illegal migration."
Confirmed details of the finalised treaty are yet to be disclosed but reports have swirled about what it will contain. There has been speculation that Rwanda is pushing for more money on top of the £140million already committed to the scheme.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
