Achi news desk-
The Liberal Democrat MP presented the Rwanda plan on the BBC’s Question Time, saying the government wanted it to give them a boost in the polls.
Tim Farron, the former leader of his party, last night described the Conservatives’ ongoing efforts to deport asylum seekers to the African country as a “complete and utter distraction”.
Referring to the £220 million already spent on the plan, Farron said: “The amount of money the government has wasted on the Rwanda plan so far – so far – is equivalent to 5.7 million GP appointments.”
He added that the government was treating some of the “most desperate people in the world as political footballs”.
“The Conservative party knows that the reason for using the Rwanda plan is that they think it might move them a couple of decimal points in the polls,” Farron claimed.
The Tories have been doing extremely poorly in the polls recently, and hit an all-time low earlier this month.
Farron continued: “Ask yourself what would you want to happen to you if this country was an intolerable and intolerable basket case?”
The MP admitted “we have a problem” with migration in the UK – but pointed out that 17 European countries take in more asylum seekers per head than we do.
He noted: “If we actually had a government that was competent enough to deal with the backlog and then get rid of those people who are not asylum seekers, that would be a deterrent.”
Farron said the whole idea was “a complete and utter distraction”.
He claimed: “It won’t work, it’s a waste of your money – 0.2% of all asylum seekers in the country will go to Rwanda. As if that’s a hindrance!”
Novelist Philippa Gregory, who was also on the panel, echoed this criticism of the Tories, citing ongoing security concerns in Rwanda.
He said sarcastically: “We know Rwanda is a safe place because the Conservative government declared it a safe place, just as we know now that June is spring.”
The government originally said flights carrying people to Rwanda would start in the spring – that deadline has now been pushed back.
He continued: “This is not a sensible plan.
“It’s an extremely reckless scheme because it deals with one of the most important issues we will have to face not just this year but 10 years from now.
“What do you think climate change is going to do to these already very poor countries?”
The audience was also furious about the plan last night, with one member asking the people who support it: “Where is your humanity – because these people are desperate?”
He added that “providing charities that help these people are sick and twisted”.
