Priti Patel defends Rwanda plan during speech in Parliament

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Priti Patel was accused by Labour of overseeing a “shambles” and participating in a “government by gimmick” after the 11th-hour cancellation of the first plane carrying asylum seekers to Rwanda. The home secretary disclosed that some cancelled Rwandan flight passengers will be released into the community wearing tags, as she promised to continue to pursue the policy of outsourcing refugees to the east African state.

It comes as Government insiders said that they hoped to try again to send asylum seekers to Rwanda within weeks.

Up to seven people who had come to the UK seeking refuge had been expected to be removed to Rwanda an hour and a half before the flight was due to take off.

Speaking to Mr Kyle, the host of the show asked him: “If you were in Government, would you simply abolish the Rwanda [policy]?”

Responding to the query, the Labour MP explained: “We would never have started in the first place. We wouldn’t need it. There is no way around solving this problem.

“You say it is popular with the public, what is even more popular with the public is solving the problem. That’s what we need to get to.

“The only way to solve the problem is to end the fact that people do get here on the whole, take five years to settle in, streamline the system and those who do not have the right to be here shouldn’t be here.

“There is no way around this without having a functional relationship with France.

“It won’t be there at the next election. If it is, we will move to a system that’s fair.”

The Rwanda asylum plan, announced by the Government in April, sees some asylum seekers who cross the Channel to the UK given a one-way ticket to Rwanda to claim asylum there instead.

The Government said the scheme would discourage others from crossing the English Channel.

The cancellation of the flight followed days of arguments in UK courts, ending with the home secretary getting the go-ahead to begin transporting some of the asylum seekers.

A Boeing 767, chartered at an estimated cost of £500,000, had been due to take off at 22:30 BST from a military airport in Wiltshire.

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But a ruling granting a temporary injunction by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on one of the seven cases allowed lawyers for the other six to make successful last-minute applications.

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