Suella Braverman slams Labour scrapping the Rwanda plan claiming it signals the UK is 'open' to illegal migration

23 July 2024, 12:24 | Updated: 23 July 2024, 12:41

Suella Braverman criticises Labour's migration plans

Suella Braverman says Labour's move to scrap the Rwanda plan shows that Britain is 'open' for illegal migrants and 'flashing the green light' to people smugglers.

Ms Braverman slammed Labour's move to scrap the Rwanda Plan and said the Prime Minister is giving "amnesty" to illegal migrants by allowing asylum claims from people arriving in the country on small boats.

The MP and former Home Secretary said by telling "70,000 odd migrants" that "how you got here doesn't matter," Sir Keir Starmer is implementing an effective amnesty.

"That says doesn't matter how you got here, doesn't matter if you broke our rules, doesn't matter.

"Or if you played our system, if you're not a genuine refugee, doesn't matter how you came to the country, we're going to let you stay here. I think that's a bit worrying."

She added that Labour is "flashing the green light to the people smugglers."

Ms Braverman said she is worried that without the Rwanda plan there is nothing to deter "all the people who want to come here and find a life for themselves in the UK."

This comes after former Home Secretary James Cleverly accused Yvette Cooper of "making up" the cost of the previous government's flagship Rwanda scheme.

Mr Cleverly blasted the new Home Secretary and described the £700million figure she quoted as "nonsense" on LBC's Nick Ferrari on Tuesday morning.

The now shadow Home Secretary told Nick he knows “all the figures” due to his previous role in the cabinet.“My advice to her is if she’s going to start a career of plucking figures out of the air, don’t go for nice round numbers, it makes it very obvious you’ve made them up”.He added the real number was "just shy of £300m."

He added there was never any plan to spend the total £10bn like Ms Cooper claimed.

Read more: 'It's nonsense': Former Home Secretary James Cleverly accuses Yvette Cooper of 'making up' £700m Rwanda figure

Read more: Rwanda deportation scheme cost £700m and saw just four volunteers sent to Africa, Home Secretary reveals

James Cleverly speaks to Nick Ferrari | Watch again

Ms Cooper previously revealed the staggering amount that was spent on the failed scheme which saw just four migrants sent voluntarily to the African country.

She told the Commons the huge cost the “most shocking waste of taxpayer money I have ever seen”.

Ms Cooper told MPs: “I have been shocked by what I have found”."Two years after the previous Government launched it, I can report it has already cost the British taxpayer £700million, in order to send just four volunteers [to Rwanda], she told MPs.

"Those costs include £290million payments to Rwanda, chartering flights that never took off, detaining hundreds of people and then releasing them, and paying for more than a thousand civil servants to work on the scheme.

"A scheme to send four people, it is the most shocking waste of taxpayers' money I have ever seen. Looking forward, the costs are set to get worse.

“Even if the scheme had ever got going it's clear it would only cover a minority of arrivals, yet a substantial portion of future costs were fixed costs."