One might well believe the Tories had put them up to this: why should the UK pay Rwanda more for a scrapped migrant plan?
That country has already taken £240 million of public money, paid for a scheme by the former Tory government that came to nothing – housing asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants who arrived in the UK by small boat.
Nobody was sent to Rwanda before incoming prime minister Keir Starmer shut the scheme down last summer (2024). He said it was a waste of money and, for once, he was right.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
He said the scheme would only have deported “less than one per cent” of small boat arrivals and he was right that it had “never been a deterrent” – only yesterday (March 4, 2025) the BBC was reporting 592 new arrivals by small boat in a single day.
There had also been concerns that Rwanda was not a safe place to house asylum-seekers and refugees, as it has a poor human rights record.
These concerns seem to have been proved justified with the announcement that the UK has stopped providing aid to that country, except for “support to the poorest and most vulnerable”. This is because of Rwanda’s alleged support for M23, a rebel group that has taken control of parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo in an uprising.
Rwanda denied any part in it until recently, when its government said it had to deal with the “existential threat” posed by “genocidal” militia near its borders.
But because the UK has withdrawn aid, Rwanda has demanded the remainder of the money it was due to receive for housing migrants – another £50 million.
It is well within the realm of possibility that the Tories had this in mind when they did their deal with the Rwandan government in the first place, back in April 2022.
Stopping aid (or other money) makes Keir Starmer look heartless, but paying it makes him appear to be helping to fund terrorists or at least, that’s how they might spin it.
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Why should the UK pay Rwanda more for a scrapped migrant plan?
One might well believe the Tories had put them up to this: why should the UK pay Rwanda more for a scrapped migrant plan?
That country has already taken £240 million of public money, paid for a scheme by the former Tory government that came to nothing – housing asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants who arrived in the UK by small boat.
Nobody was sent to Rwanda before incoming prime minister Keir Starmer shut the scheme down last summer (2024). He said it was a waste of money and, for once, he was right.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
He said the scheme would only have deported “less than one per cent” of small boat arrivals and he was right that it had “never been a deterrent” – only yesterday (March 4, 2025) the BBC was reporting 592 new arrivals by small boat in a single day.
There had also been concerns that Rwanda was not a safe place to house asylum-seekers and refugees, as it has a poor human rights record.
These concerns seem to have been proved justified with the announcement that the UK has stopped providing aid to that country, except for “support to the poorest and most vulnerable”. This is because of Rwanda’s alleged support for M23, a rebel group that has taken control of parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo in an uprising.
Rwanda denied any part in it until recently, when its government said it had to deal with the “existential threat” posed by “genocidal” militia near its borders.
But because the UK has withdrawn aid, Rwanda has demanded the remainder of the money it was due to receive for housing migrants – another £50 million.
It is well within the realm of possibility that the Tories had this in mind when they did their deal with the Rwandan government in the first place, back in April 2022.
Stopping aid (or other money) makes Keir Starmer look heartless, but paying it makes him appear to be helping to fund terrorists or at least, that’s how they might spin it.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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