The Conservative government’s proposal to remove asylum seekers to Rwanda has always been more a piece of performative cruelty than a practical or strategic policy. It plays to the party and media gallery rather than truly addressing the migration problem. This remains even more true today, following the publication of the government’s draconian and disgraceful safety of Rwanda bill. This reneges on Britain’s human rights laws and brushes the historic role of our country’s courts aside.
The overriding purpose of the policy and the bill is to give voters the impression that the Conservatives have gripped the small boats issue before next year’s general election. Planes taking off for Rwanda make good propaganda. Yet even if the planes were to take off, Rwanda itself has made clear that the numbers removed would only be in the hundreds. The government is fixated on the migration margins, not the mainstream.
