Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire came under fire for failing to commit to a position on the government’s policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. In a BBC interview on the Newscast podcast, when asked if a Labour government would stop the flights, she failed to answer.
Ms Debbonaire has previously been outspoken in her opposition to the Illegal Migration Bill, which includes the controversial Rwanda policy, deemed unlawful in a recent Court of Appeal ruling.
Ms Debbonaire, shadow leader of the House of Commons put out a Tweet the following day which she pinned to her page, stating that the next Labour government would ‘stop the flights’. Her interview stirred up a reaction from Twitter users who said that she would lose her seat to the Green Party in the next election and had been disappointing for local campaigners who have previously received support from her on these issues.
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When asked on two occasions by BBC political editor Chris Mason if a Labour government would stop flights to Rwanda, Ms Debbonaire said: “There are too many hypotheticals because we don’t know what the courts will say. The first thing we need to do is deal with the backlog.
“If we don’t deal with the backlog now it’s going to be worse by then and even the government’s own impact assessment said that there was very uncertain evidence that the Rwanda deal would deter people from coming and that’s supposed to be the point. The list of things that the Conservative government has over the last 13 years that I want to undo is so long that [it] would be crowded for competition.”
The Bristol MP added that as the shadow leader of the house she needed to be 'careful' and consider what a Labour government could do in the first year or two in power and that it would be difficult to decide on what to prioritise. Bristol Defend Asylum Seekers Campaign, which has been active locally in protesting against the Rwanda policy, said it was were disappointed and ‘shocked’.
BDASC chair Jo Benefield said: “It was extremely disappointing that she was unable to state clearly that Labour would end deportations to Rwanda. But she has since clarified which is very welcomed.”
In a Tweet the following day, Ms Debbonaire said: “The UK Tory government's shameful Rwanda deportation plan is a despicable way to treat refugees. The courts have ruled this unlawful so that in theory should halt the plan. But if for some reason the govt goes ahead, the next Labour government will STOP THE FLIGHTS.”
Twitter users were not so sympathetic with many asking the MP why she hadn’t clearly stated her position when asked in an interview the previous day. Others went further and said, ‘we don’t believe you’ and ‘you can’t be trusted.’
In a further statement to Bristol Live today, Ms Debbonaire said: “The next Labour Government would scrap the Rwanda scheme if this failing immoral, illegal, unaffordable and unworkable policy even made it that far.”
“Naturally, after 13 years of Tory damage to our country, there’ll be a whole range of policies I want to unpick. As Shadow Leader of the House of Commons I’m working on how we’ll do that.”
