Rishi - why are you totally fixated on Rwanda?

I suppose he thinks that will get him more votes? Or maybe the other stuff is in the too hard basket.

Because he is "delivering on the people's priorities"...

He has no other policy plus his 5 priorities can never be met because his policy is such rubbish.
The only one with a remote chance if he can override the courts - both domestic and international - are the planes to Rwanda. But his big issue here is, that if he breaks international law, Rwanda says it wants nothing to do with it!

It won’t stop the boats of course but I guess he could claim in some weird way that his policy is working.

I see inflation is up today - wonder if he will say it is because of his policies as he tries to claim it is when it is dropping a bit.

Roll on the election.

I agree with the comments above. The other stuff (aka the really important stuff) is way too hard and he is desperately trying to deliver something his core voters prioritise.

The Tories traditionally demonise people at the bottom of society including those on disability benefits and asylum seekers. They are the cause of all our woes.

This is fervently backed up by the right wing press who stir up hatred, use sensationalism and twist statistics.

It's a story as old as the hills and you only have to look at the readers comments in the Daily Mail to see how effective it is.

I also think he is trying to achieve something on a personal level before his party become toast.

It is puzzling. He has set in train a policy that is dubiously legal and frankly inhumane that brings disgrace on Britain. He must know tis - surely he cannot be oblivious to this?

Our public services are in a dreadful state and yet he is happy to spend vast sums of money on this obsession. Might there not have been better immigration policies on which this money could have been spent? - tracking down those behind it all and bringing them to justice, speeding up the administration of vetting procedures?

He is doing himself no favours politically because his candidates in the GE will struggle to sell this to all but the most die-hard ultra right-wingers.

So the fixation looks even more bizarre when looking at the immigration figures.

Net legal immigration last year 672000+

Asylum seekers 20k

All that money being expended on trying to stop a tiny fraction of the total amount and failing because Tory policies are set up to fail.

They are hopeless.

I don’t know about bringing disgrace on Britain. Other countries would not be interested , they have enough of their own problems just now. We very, very rarely see any news from over there and no doubt most countries are the same. All we get is America, natural disasters that are spectacular and sport. Britain isn’t on the radar.

The immigrants profile has changed though, from being mainly European to being mainly from Asia - India, Pakistan and China.

The asylum seekers come largely from Afghanistan, Iran, India? And Iraq.

So most immigrants of both sections seem to now come from the Asian continent

A great many of the Asian immigrants with visas are here as students. Our local uni makes a great deal of money from Asian students.

If only the Conservative MP’s that are fixated on Rwanda had been as obsessive about bringing about justice for the sub postmasters, something that has been known to parliament for a long time

I think he wants to prove he is on the authoritarian right. He isn't doing it very well but it is the authoritarian right he is trying to appeal to.

Luckygirl3

It is puzzling. He has set in train a policy that is dubiously legal and frankly inhumane that brings disgrace on Britain. He must know tis - surely he cannot be oblivious to this?

Our public services are in a dreadful state and yet he is happy to spend vast sums of money on this obsession. Might there not have been better immigration policies on which this money could have been spent? - tracking down those behind it all and bringing them to justice, speeding up the administration of vetting procedures?

He is doing himself no favours politically because his candidates in the GE will struggle to sell this to all but the most die-hard ultra right-wingers.

Don't you read any news, have you read about the people smugglers that have been tracked down, and are now serving prison sentences. Just because it's not shouted from the roof tops, doesn't mean its not being done. Perhaps read the NCA website.

Because he thinks it goes down well with some voters. A less political reason is that PMs can really only deal directly with 2 or 3 major issues at a time- everything else is dealt with by private secretaries and sides of various kinds.

MaizieD

A great many of the Asian immigrants with visas are here as students. Our local uni makes a great deal of money from Asian students.

The Tories have also got an agreement with India about visas and the ability to work in the U.K.

I’ve been wondering why there aren’t the same numbers of people coming from Albania and found this…
Following the landmark joint communiqué between the Prime Ministers of Albania and the UK on tackling illegal migration, operational teams in the UK and Albania have intensified operational work to address illegal migration, particularly the small boat crossings in the English Channel.

The UK and Albanian authorities have been working together to make it more difficult for illegal migrants to arrive and stay in the UK. Since the communiqué was agreed, new figures show that over 1,000 Albanian nationals have been returned to Albania. This figure is a combination of failed asylum seekers, foreign national offenders and voluntary returns and covers the period from agreement of the joint communiqué on 13 December up to the first week in April.

UK and Albanian operational teams have set up a joint migration task force, which serves as the main gateway to coordinate specialised operational measures and actions to manage illegal migration of Albanian citizens to the UK.

These include reinforced checks on free movement criteria at all border crossing points across the country, increased verifications on Albanian citizens who are found to be illegally in the territory of the UK, and exchange of senior-level police officers in both countries.

Head of the Albanian Border and Migration Police, Saimir Boshnjaku, said:

We are working hand in hand with our British colleagues under the joint migration task force to prevent irregular migration to the UK and related crimes.

The Border and Migration Police urges all citizens to follow the legal way of migration and assures that all persons breaking the law will face the consequences.

UK Director General of Immigration Enforcement, Tony Eastaugh, said:

These numbers are evidence that our partnership with the government of Albania to speed up the removal of those with no legal right to be in the UK is working.

As we intensify this activity further, Albanian nationals who enter the UK illegally and have no right to be here should be under no illusion that we will remove them as quickly as possible.

In 2022, there were 1,888 returns of Albanian nationals, of which 954 (51%) were enforced returns and 934 (49%) were voluntary returns. The number of voluntary returns is 90% higher than in 2021 (492). This is a new and encouraging trend, which we have seen continue into 2023. Already in 2023, from January to March, 795 Albanian nationals have been returned. Of these, 389 (49%) were enforced returns and 406 (51%) were voluntary returns. These operations are expected to intensify further in the upcoming months.

The Border and Migration Police of Albania and the UK Home Office are determined to put a stop to illegal migration which seriously impedes the prosperity and safety of citizens and enables criminality, exploitation and other forms of illegality.

The UK’s latest illegal migration statistics, published this morning (Monday 24 April) and covering a range of nationalities, also show that:

enforcement visits conducted between January and March 2023 have increased since the same period last year (a 53% rise, from 2,111 to 3,228)
as at 31 March 2023, the number of legacy cases in the asylum initial decision backlog was 11% lower than as at 31 December 2022
the number of asylum decision-makers has increased since July last year. As at 1 March 2023, there were 1,281 asylum decision makers, 48% higher than on 1 July 2022 (when there were 865)
So, if working with the Albanian government has been successful why aren’t they using the same approach when it comes to migrants from other countries. Why still persevere with this so called deterrent?

Oh dear apparently 85% of asylum seekers earmarked for transportation have disappeared.

Whitewavemark2

Oh dear apparently 85% of asylum seekers earmarked for transportation have disappeared.

If that is correct then maybe they need to be in holding facilities of some sort until they are given permission to remain in the U.K. As opposed to being allowed to come and go as they please from hotels, b & b’s and the barge.

Agree with you GG13! Somewhere clean, basic, secure with access to a doctor, a dentist, warmth, food and clothing. Use the Rwanda money (well, stop spending more, it isn’t going to work), cut the £millions we give to France for their sporadic ‘cooperation’ and putting them in hotels (we are mad). So spend the money in-house. Secure facilities just not roaming around and getting ‘lost’. That is very worrying. For everyone. Use the money to set up quicker administrator centres. Eventually that would actually be self funding so the more staff the better.

Agree Urmstongran 👍🏻

GrannyGravy13

Whitewavemark2

Oh dear apparently 85% of asylum seekers earmarked for transportation have disappeared.

If that is correct then maybe they need to be in holding facilities of some sort until they are given permission to remain in the U.K. As opposed to being allowed to come and go as they please from hotels, b & b’s and the barge.

Do you realise what you are suggesting GrannyGravy13?

DaisyAnneReturns

GrannyGravy13

Whitewavemark2

Oh dear apparently 85% of asylum seekers earmarked for transportation have disappeared.

If that is correct then maybe they need to be in holding facilities of some sort until they are given permission to remain in the U.K. As opposed to being allowed to come and go as they please from hotels, b & b’s and the barge.

Do you realise what you are suggesting GrannyGravy13?

Just listening to Stephen Kinnock speaking in parliament: I had either forgotten or didn’t know that the Rwanda scheme was introduced as part of operation save big dog, the ill fated scheme to keep Boris Johnson in power. Imo the main problem is that the government can’t bring themselves to liaise with anyone or anything containing the word ‘Europe’.

I know that the present system of giving all asylum seekers freedom to roam isn’t working if the percentage posted by Whitewavemark2 isn’t working.

What is wrong with the authorities knowing where these people are and what they are doing, until such time their claims are processed and they either stay or are deported.

The entire process needs speeding up.

MayBee70

Just listening to Stephen Kinnock speaking in parliament: I had either forgotten or didn’t know that the Rwanda scheme was introduced as part of operation save big dog, the ill fated scheme to keep Boris Johnson in power. Imo the main problem is that the government can’t bring themselves to liaise with anyone or anything containing the word ‘Europe’.

Have you missed the cooperation with France and the millions of £’s the U.K. sends for border control along the French
Beaches?