- Murray on the brink in Geneva comeback
- ICC prosecutor seeks Gaza 'war crimes' arrest warrant for Netanyahu, Hamas leaders
- 'Incognito Market' founder arrested in New York
- Cate Blanchett urges film industry to include refugee voices
- Sargent returns to US squad for pre-COPA friendlies
- Microsoft unveils 'Copilot Plus' PC amped with AI
- Biden slams 'outrageous' ICC bid to arrest Israeli leaders
- Five things to know about incoming Anfield boss Arne Slot
- Changing climate influences London's Chelsea Flower Show
- UK PM sorry for institutional cover-up in infected blood scandal
- G7 push to use Russian assets for Ukraine 'vital and urgent': Yellen
- Trump trial closing arguments set for next week
- US Supreme Court rejects ex-Guantanamo detainee's appeal
- Japan's Studio Ghibli receives honorary Palme d'Or in Cannes
- Liverpool confirm Slot will replace Klopp as manager
- Pogacar 'good enough' to win Giro d'Italia and Tour de France
- Cargo ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge towed to port
- 'God works slowly': NGO ship rescues 35 Bangladeshis off Malta
- Dominican Republic's President Abinader wins resounding re-election
- England relish 'fear factor' of returning paceman Archer
- Israel, Hamas reject bid before ICC to arrest leaders for war crimes
- Explosive Trump biopic hits Cannes Film Festival
- Demi Moore transforms for Cannes body horror 'The Substance'
- Spain demands Milei public apology for 'corrupt wife' comment
- Gold hits record high as Iran shock triggers haven support
- Ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge being towed to port
- Max wins but Red Bull supremacy challenged: Emilia Romagna GP talking points
- US inflation fight will take 'further time': senior Fed official
- UK report finds cover-up of decades-long infected blood scandal
- Trump trial resumes, closing arguments expected next week
- Ruto on first state visit by Kenyan leader to US in two decades
- African players in Europe: Superb Kudus goal in vain as City take title
- Pope to visit Belgium, Luxembourg in September
- Gold hits high as Iran shock triggers haven support
- Strikes pound Gaza as Israel voices 'duty' to expand Rafah incursion
- Russia tries playwright and director on terror charges
- Iran mourns president Raisi's death in helicopter crash
- Attack on tourists rocks fledgling Afghanistan tourism sector
- Paralympics should put disability back on global agenda, says IPC chief
- South Africa's top court strikes Zuma from ballot
- Crunch time looms for BHP's bid buy Anglo American
- Kane to face old club Spurs for first time in Seoul
- Markets rise as traders cheered by China property plan
- Black farmers in Brazil changing views on coffee production
- Iran's President Raisi declared dead in helicopter crash
- Australia police arrest 554 in domestic violence crackdown
- South Korea, Britain host AI summit with safety top of agenda
- New president Lai vows to defend Taiwan's democracy
- Forever fad: Rubik says his cube 'reminds us why we have hands'
- Trump eyes witness stand as trial draws to a close
RIO | -0.44% | 73.29 | $ | |
BTI | -0.56% | 31.415 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.02% | 24.4774 | $ | |
SCS | -1.68% | 13.405 | $ | |
BP | -0.52% | 37.295 | $ | |
BCE | -0.96% | 34.015 | $ | |
BCC | 1.22% | 137.73 | $ | |
JRI | 0.09% | 11.59 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.41% | 24.27 | $ | |
NGG | -0.5% | 72.47 | $ | |
AZN | 0.34% | 77.16 | $ | |
RBGPF | -2.33% | 56.32 | $ | |
RYCEF | 3.94% | 5.515 | $ | |
GSK | -0.75% | 44.643 | $ | |
RELX | 0.09% | 44.11 | $ | |
VOD | -0.15% | 9.775 | $ |
UK's Labour vows to ditch government's Rwanda deportation plan
Britain's main opposition Labour party on Friday pledged to scrap the Conservative government's flagship Rwanda scheme if it comes to power, replacing it with a tougher more joined-up approach to tackling irregular migration.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has staked his political reputation on his plan to "stop the boats", pushing the controversial deportation plan despite opposition from rights groups and judicial rulings.
Labour, which is widely expected to win the next general election later this year after 14 years in opposition, has been under mounting pressure to say what it will do if it is voted into office.
Immigration has become an increasingly central political issue since the United Kingdom left the European Union in 2020, largely on a promise to "take back control" of the country's borders.
Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover, where most of the small boats are brought ashore, this week defected to Labour, saying the government's policy was not working.
In a speech in the town, Labour leader Keir Starmer called Sunak's "stop the boats" policy an ineffective "gimmick" that was neither a deterrent nor value for money.
More than 8,800 people have crossed the Channel from northern France already this year, while a backlog in asylum claims has left about 52,000 stuck in government temporary accommodation, he said.
The Rwanda deportation scheme, which Sunak hopes to start in July, fails to tackle the issue, Starmer said.
"Only a few hundred people removed, less than one percent who cross the sea in small boats every year... for £600 million," he said, calling it "gesture politics" to satisfy anti-immigration right-wingers.
"We will replace the Rwanda policy permanently," he said, promising a new approach to securing UK borders by tackling the issue "upstream" to smash the people-smuggling gangs behind the crossings.
- 'Elite' new force -
Central to the policy will be a new "elite" Border Security Command, comprising immigration and law enforcement specialists, as well as the domestic intelligence service MI5, he added.
Money ring-fenced for the Rwanda scheme will be ploughed back into the new force.
Starmer, who oversaw several high-profile terrorism and drug-smuggling cases during his time as chief prosecutor in England and Wales, said people-smugglers were "no better than terrorists".
Tougher, pre-emptive powers to deal with them, based on counter-terrorism laws, were needed, he argued, as well as closer cooperation with the UK's European neighbours, including on joint investigations and operations.
In a message to the gangs, he said: "These shores will become hostile territory for you... We will find you, we will stop you and we will protect your victims... we will secure Britain's borders."
With Brexit, the UK lost its ability to return asylum seekers to EU member states.
Asked if Labour would look to rejoin the scheme, Starmer conceded that the Dublin agreement needed to be replaced "in some shape or form so there can be returns".
But he added that "that does not mean joining the EU scheme", as it was still possible to return asylum seekers to their country of origin.
L.Janezki--BTB