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Politics
Liam O'Dell
Apr 03, 2023
Related video: Lisa Nandy says 'Matt Hancock came across a complete plonker' on I'm A Celebrity
Politics Live
If Lisa Nandy’s appearance on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg taught us anything this morning, then it’s that you only need around two minutes to completely eviscerate the Conservative government’s plan to send refugees and asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Appearing on TV in the same morning that Suella Braverman went around claiming it was “unfair” to blame delays at Dover on Brexit (it isn’t) and that Rwanda remains a safe place for refugees (despite 12 refugees being shot dead in 2018), the shadow levelling up secretary was asked if a Labour government would keep the Rwanda policy if it turned out to be successful.
“This is, so far, a policy that has cost the British taxpayer a huge amount of money and hasn’t seen a single person go to Rwanda, so I think the evidence so far suggests that this is yet another outlandish, nonsense claim from the home secretary [who] is unable to do the very basics of getting her own system working.
“She complains about an asylum system that’s broken. I think she really does need to ask who broke it, and the answer to that lies by looking at the mirror.
“I think this is a con trick being perpetrated on the British people. The government is not processing asylum claims, they’ve got an enormous backlog, they’ve added £500 million to the costs because of these delays that have been caused by them pursuing all these new strategies,” she said, before going on to reference controversial proposals from the Home Office to put refugees on barges and cruise ships.
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This was only one minute of Ms Nandy’s takedown, as Kuenssberg intervened to press the shadow minister again on whether the policy would be kept by a Labour government led by Sir Keir Starmer.
The Wigan MP continued: “I don’t think we’re ever going to be in the situation where we’ll have to dismantle this, because I don’t think it’s real – just like the barges that the home secretary promised this week that it turns out didn’t exist.
“This is just yet another way of distracting from the fact that they’re only processing one per cent of the asylum claims of people who arrived last year. The reason that our hotels are full is because they haven’t got a grip on the asylum system, they aren’t processing claims and they haven’t got a returns agreement with France.
“That’s what we would do. We’d set up a cell to tackle the criminal gangs, working across borders; we’d process our asylum claims quickly; and we’d get a grip on the asylum system.
“That, in the end, is the only way to run a fair, humane, effective system that commands the confidence of the British people. Frankly, she should be ashamed of herself for touring the TV studios, making more and more bold claims when she can’t even do the basics of her own job.”
Ouch.
Quite the scathing response from the Labour MP, and some Twitter users absolutely loved it:
\u201c@Haggis_UK @lisanandy \ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffb\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffb\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffb\nSpot on as always!\nStraight talking takes no nonsense! How all politicians should be so different to what we have in this government!\u201d— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1680426100
\u201c@Haggis_UK Well played lisa its never gonna happen ,dont give the question any oxygen stop it at source\u201d— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1680426100
\u201c@Haggis_UK @bbclaurak kept asking if the Rwanda policy works, will @UKLabour scrap it. It doesn't work and even if by some miracle it did, it can only take a few hundred. The question is redundant because keeping it would be a waste of money. LK trying for a gotcha question #bbclaurak\u201d— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1680426100
\u201cWHAMMY! You go girl\u201d— Myles Lovell (@Myles Lovell) 1680436236
\u201cNANDY SPOT ON CORRECT !! BIAS BBC TRYING ITS HARDEST TO SUPPORT THE DERANGED TORY LINE BUT NANDY TELLS IT STRAIGHT HOW IT REALLY IS !!\u201d— Steve C (@Steve C) 1680428730
\u201cLisa Nandy 100% accurate\n#ToriesOut269 #SunakOut160 #GeneralElectionNow\u201d— dave lawrence \ud83d\udc1f\ud83d\udc1f\ud83d\udc20 (@dave lawrence \ud83d\udc1f\ud83d\udc1f\ud83d\udc20) 1680426902
Although others drew attention to the fact Ms Nandy didn’t exactly give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer:
\u201c@Haggis_UK Just ONCE I'd like to hear a simple yes or no from a politician. Don't care which party, any one will do! \nIt's so tiresome knowing they will all revert to semantics, 'clever' (in their minds) word play, & evasive replies of variable meaning.\nElections coming; I want definites!\u201d— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1680426100
\u201c@Haggis_UK So is that a "no"? It's great labour are doing well in the polls,but to be there by just not being Tories is not sustainable. We need to see them take actual positions on no brainer issues like these and stop this red/ blue wall appeasement .Supporters will tire of prevarication\u201d— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1680426100
\u201c@Haggis_UK You didn't say "No" @lisanandy \nYou want to answer the question?\nBecause if you're not saying no, you're saying "yes" to keeping the Rwanda policy.\u201d— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1680426100
\u201c@Haggis_UK The answer, Lisa, is "No. It's not only unworkable but immoral. We would open safe routes and process asylum claims quickly and humanely." \nBut you're too cowardly to say that, aren't you, Lisa?\u201d— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1680426100
\u201c@Haggis_UK A simple question that she refused to answer, showing that Labour are now no better than the Tories.\u201d— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1680426100
For now then, at least, it appears we're stuck with the Conservatives’ outrageous Rwanda plan. Yay.
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