Rwanda Fiasco Cost £700Million

[Gromit]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/22/failed-rwanda-deportation-scheme-cost-700m-says-yvette-cooper
 

Shameful waste of money when schools were falling down and 40 new hospitals turned out 39 short of target.

[New Judge]

Back in 2015, when the Syrian refugee crisis was top of the pops, Ms Cooper, along with other politicians and celebs, vowed to take in an asylum seeker or two. Along with the Home Secretary, Bob Geldof, Stand Collymore and Nicola Sturgeon said they would do their bit by opening up one of their spare rooms.

Ms Sturgeon, of course, is now otherwise engaged (though of course she does have access to a motorhome in which she could put up one or two). However, as far as I am aware (and I'm sure we would have been made aware if it had happened) none of the others have.

A year or so after she made her pledge, MS Cooper was asked by LBC's Nick Ferrari how it was progressing:

NF: Have you taken your refugee in yet?

YC: Well, I think we should be offering sanctuary

NF: But have you taken yours yet?

YC: Yeah but I don’t think this is about… I’ve said from the start if people need homes we should be offering…

NF: Have you taken yours yet?

YC: If you listen to what the government’s said, they’ve said no they don’t want people to take them into their homes. What they want is to provide housing for the small number of Syrian refugees who have come over. Where I do think we should help and…

NF: Have you taken yours yet Yvette?

YC: No that’s what I said, because the government has said

NF: So you haven’t taken yours because the Government has said . . ?

YC: The Government’s said that’s not what we’re looking for, because what they’re looking for is proper homes for people and, you know, people should have the dignity of their own homes…

NF: So because David Cameron says not to do it, you’re not doing it?

YC: Yeah, but, look, the Government, you’ve got to provide proper support when they come and what’s the proper support people need? And they need, you know, if they’re a family they’ll need housing of their own.

If they’re a child, they’ll need proper foster support, if you wanna be a fosterer you’ve gotta go through proper training and support through your local council, you can’t just take any family. So look, if that’s what the Government say is what’s needed and that’s what people think is needed . . .

NF: So you won’t be making a room available now?

YC: Then, of course, but at the moment the Government is saying that is not what you need to provide sanctuary. But, you know, the bigger problem at the moment we’re actually not providing any sanctuary at all, we’ve got just 4,000 Syrian refugees coming here a year, there’s 4,000 a day arriving in Greece and you’ve got child refugees who are, you know, alone in Europe and, 10,000 of them…

NF: So can one of them have your room?

 YC: Hey, you’ve got to have proper fostering, haven’t you? You’ve got to have proper fosterers and I’ll be honest, I’ve not had proper support and training from local councils to be a proper fosterer and I think that’s not summink you play games with . . . because what we did with the Kindertransport, you remember, the Kindertransport before the Second World War.

NF: So our listeners can take that as a no, then?

Hopefully the Home Secretary is now in a much better position to fulfil her pledge from nine years ago. Perhaps she can take one of those previously earmarked for Rwanda.

[ynnafymmi]

At least Gary Lineker took in a refugee,NJ.I presume the refugee is still there with him and Gary didnt throw him out after a week?

[Deskdiary]

Rubber stamping 90,000 is the equivalent of building a new town the size of Hastings If they all subsequently then brought over just one family member that's the equivalent of Swindon, two family members on average (as not all will bring family members) that's the size of Hull.

 

These are mind-boggling numbers.

[Old_Geezer]

He probably got sick of eating crisps and left.

[ynnafymmi]

Gary or the refugee?

[Deskdiary]

"This party and this Government do not believe in amnesties."

 

https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-07-22/debates/FBB2B906-592F-4047-A6E1-59D6DB97573A/BorderSecurityAndAsylum#contribution-6D1FBB2E-FD79-4930-AFE4-5B74BC1F1DAE

 

If rubber stamping 90,000 is not an amnesty, can somebody explain to me what it is please? I must be missing something.

 

[naomi24]

It is an amnesty - and then they'll claim to have solved the problem.  Disgraceful.

[youngmafbog]

//I could have sworn the Tories had a majority. How did Starmer and Cooper manage to prevent it happening?//

Do you have any clue whatsoever as to how this Country works?

[Untitled]

the plan is to process those 90,000 claims is it not? i.e. to make a judgement on whether or not they can claim asylum here. 
 

that isn't rubber-stamping is it

[gramps85]

Untitled 13.50.

And what will happen to those who may not have their claim approved?  Will they just be released back into the community to be absorbed into their cultures community?  Or will they be held at taxpayers expense in hotels etc?

[Old_Geezer]

Having a majority doesn't stop individuals raising objects which delay, and others finding what in effect are legal loopholes that have to be sorted. I'm sure everyone knows how the game is played to stop a government doing what it pledged to.

[tommy39]

well yeah,if you believe what labour are telling us..i don't

[tomus42]

//Do you have any clue whatsoever as to how this Country works?//

I think so. A government with a majority passes bills and implements them into law.

A government without a majority struggles to do so and has to either do deals with the opposition parties or get voted down.

Let me know if you need any more help.

[New Judge]

“the plan is to process those 90,000 claims is it not? i.e. to make a judgement on whether or not they can claim asylum here.”

Apparently. Quite how diligent this “processing” is will determine whether it is “rubber stamping” or not.

What I don’t understand is Mrs Balls suggests that £billions will be saved by no longer having to pay to accommodate the 90,000 once their asylum claims have been settled. Those whose claims fail will be “removed” (though she hasn’t explained how or, particularly, where to) and those whose claims succeed will……presumably suddenly be able to buy or rent accommodation.

Have I missed something out?

[New Judge]

"At least Gary Lineker took in a refugee,NJ.I presume the refugee is still there with him and Gary didnt throw him out after a week?"

Mr Lineker hosted two refugees. In 2020 he hosted Rasheed Baluch, aged 35. Mr Baluch was from the mountainous Balochistan region which straddles Pakistan and Iran and stayed with Mr Lineker for 20 days. The following year he hosted a 21 year old Turk who had been caught up in a military coup. He stayed for a month.

So, no, they are not still there. Two (probably well veted) individuals who stayed for under two months in total. And not quite the same as the poor souls who have dozens of them whose origins are unknown, foisted on them for long periods in hotels and hostels in their areas.

[theshedman]

Now they have decided to get rid of the Bibby Stockholm and house the illegals elsewhere ie, hotels which is going to probably cost more and put up the cost of hotels for the rest of us as these are often close to airports and so puts up the cost of staying at any other hotels in that area.  Also they say that conditions on there are inhumane but surely it must be better than the tented towns they were living in, in France and elsewhere before that.