Priti Patel has called on those against her plan to send migrants to Rwanda to come up with an alternative idea to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel. Writing a joint article in The Times with Rwandan foreign minister Vincent Biruta, the Home Secretary reiterated that her controversial plans were “bold and innovative” after religious leaders were critical of the move.
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, deemed the plans ungodly, while his counterpart in York also used his Easter sermon to deride the idea as “so depressing and distressing”. But in the joint article, Ms Patel and Mr Biruta said: “We are taking bold and innovative steps and it’s surprising that those institutions that criticise the plans fail to offer their own solutions.”
Earlier, Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg had suggested that the Archbishop of Canterbury had misunderstood the aims of the policy. Mr Welby said there are “serious ethical questions about sending asylum seekers overseas”.
