James Cleverly brands Labour's treatment of Rwanda 'disgusting' as he hints he could bring back controversial scheme

18 September 2024, 22:00 | Updated: 18 September 2024, 22:07

Conservative leadership hopeful James Cleverly has told LBC Labour's treatment of Rwanda has been "disgusting" as he suggested he would bring back the scheme if he became PM.

Speaking to LBC's Iain Dale, Mr Cleverly slammed the Labour government for scrapping the scheme, as well as their treatment of the African nation.

The former Foreign Secretary is putting forward his bid to be named Conservative party leader.

Speaking to LBC this evening, Mr Cleverly branded the Labour government's treatment of Rwanda in the wake of scrapping the controversial scheme "disgusting."

He said: "Labour treated the Rwandan government disgustingly and arrogantly" as he described their actions as "grossly unprofessional."

Tory leadership contender James Cleverly outlines how his party can 'win back support'

He added that Keir Starmer's government would not have "treated a European partner" this way.

Mr Clevery also noted he could bring the scheme to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda back if he became PM.

He said: "I've said it right from the get go.

"You have to have a deterrent, the new border commander recruited this week said you have to have a deterrent - and yet Labour doesn't have one."

He also admitted that the Conservative Party made mistakes during the 2024 General Election.

He said: I'm not going to sit here and pretend everything with the government was fine, we slipped into bad habits.

"I think one of the things we did wrong is we stopped making the case for traditional Conservative philosophies, we didn't make the case for the liberating effect of lowering taxes."

Putting their differences aside, Mr Cleverly said despite their disagreements he "really, really admires" Labour's Angela Rayner.