Luke Charles (He/Him)

The Rwanda scheme, first introduced by Boris Johnson, was the main immigration policy in the dying months of his Conservative government. It was ridiculed at the time, proving unpopular with the public, difficult to implement, and ineffective at reducing migration. Despite this, it has since been adopted by two more of our Prime Ministers – the economic powerhouse that is Liz Truss, and more recently by Rishi Sunak, the face of a ‘changed’ Conservative party. Since its introduction by Johnson, it has faced countless setbacks, resignations, and embarrassments – yet curiously, it still remains the central immigration policy of this Government.

The huge increase in migration since 2020 (coincidentally since the UK officially left the EU) is an easy factor for the Tories to blame for the many issues that they have caused over the last 14 years, whether it is the housing crisis, the rising cost of living, or the decaying NHS. Rwanda was thought to be able to distract from these issues – after all, immigrants usually get the blame when things go wrong. However after Partygate and Liz Truss’ disaster budget, the public are starting to blame the Tories for their woes, and Rwanda has shifted from a controversial distraction policy into becoming an ideological struggle for power within the Conservative party.

Unsurprisingly immigration numbers aren’t really falling, and it is hurting Rishi’s party badly. Rishi tries to paint himself as a ‘change’ candidate, distancing himself from the toxicity of  Truss and Johnson. Yet he doesn’t quite seem to understand the irony in saying you have changed the direction of your party whilst still championing your predecessor’s immigration policy. By carrying on with the policy and pandering so much to the right, the Tories’ more moderate voters now don’t feel as home with them as they once did in 2010, and consequentially, there has been an immense surge of Lib Dem support in the blue wall. On the other hand, their more hardline voters are unimpressed with the progress made on Rwanda, and see Rishi as an obstacle to its success. This has encouraged many in the Tory right to take more extreme stances on the policy, and massive rifts are emerging within the party. Along with this, the Reform Party are seeing a surge in popularity, consistently polling at above 10% in national polls. This is creating a massive problem for the Tories, as they are seeing their vote share slipping both from their more moderate supporters to the Lib Dems, and from the far-right of the party to Reform.

If the only damage Rwanda did was ruin the Tory party come, then I would be its biggest supporter. However in reality, like most Tory policies it ends up damaging the country. Rishi’s determination to pass the bill by overruling the Supreme Court has greatly called into question his and his party’s commitment to our country’s democratic values and institutions. By also dismissing the ECHR’s (European Court of Human Rights) warnings about breaches of international law, he is showing the world that Britain is starting to not take international treaties or organisations seriously, diminishing any influence and credibility we once had as a strong democracy which championed human rights and international cooperation.

Not only is our international reputation being tarnished, but on a purely pragmatic point Rwanda is not worth pursuing. If you want to take a tough stance on immigration, there is no evidence that the Rwanda scheme will prevent more boat crossings. At most Rwanda can accept 1000 people, costing the taxpayer £169k per person deported, which is absurd money. Even if they managed to deport 1000 asylum seekers, this will not make a dent in the 29,000 people that crossed the Channel in 2023, or the 45,000 that made the journey in 2022. The only things Rwanda is really achieving is polarising the country, stoking fear into immigrant communities who are settled in the UK, and enabling far-right politicians, whose rhetoric encourages violence towards anyone who they deem to be ‘not English’.

The time and money invested into the scheme is also taking away focus from more pressing  problems in our immigration system. Currently, we have sent the Rwandan Government £240m and 0 refugees. This money would be so much better placed in creating a more efficient asylum system to reduce the backlog, investing more into the National Crime Agency to stop gangs from taking advantage of refugees and in the long-run, giving more foreign aid to countries affected by climate change, which is estimated to drastically increase the number of refugees worldwide. On top of this, a more constructive relationship with the EU and France in particular wouldn’t hurt. A returns deal could be negotiated with the EU, a better relationship with France could result in more supervision of their northern coast, all of which would be more effective in reducing immigration numbers than Rwanda.

Yet Rishi won’t do this, as it is evident he doesn’t actually care whether the scheme is effective or not. He only backs Rwanda because he has to appeal to the rebellious section of his party, when in fact doesn’t even believe in the policy himself. Whilst he was Chancellor under Boris Johnson, he believed that the “deterrent wouldn’t work”, and was also against the extremely high costs of the policy. He looks so incredibly weak; Rwanda is not even his idea and yet he is bound by it. The fact he is pushing so hard for another PM’s policy shows that he has no control over his party, no ideas of his own, and that his MPs are more loyal to a disgraced former PM than him, the current leader of their party. He is carrying out Boris’ legacy whilst also trying to prove that he is the change that this country needs. His failure to properly address the UK’s immigration problem, and his inability to stand up to those in his own party, is ruining Britain both at home and abroad.