BRENT MP Dawn Butler has appealed to Sir Keir Starmer to make clear that Labour would scrap the government’s Rwanda deportations after a spokesperson for the leader refused to say whether the party would reverse the policy if they won power.

Starmer notably did not raise Rwanda in Prime Ministers’ Questions yesterday despite the policy being condemned by the Bishops of the Church of England, and reportedly the next monarch, Prince Charles.

There is growing frustration among some backbench Labour MP’s that Starmer has said so little on the subject, with many suspecting the strategy is to pander to what is perceived to be Red Wall voters’ concerns over immigration.

In a letter to Starmer, Butler pleaded with her leader to take a stand and commit to ending Priti Patel’s “obscene and immoral” policy.

She wrote: “The problem with the Rwanda deportation policy is not just about its cost or efficiency, but that it treats refugees as a problem to be passed on to someone else.

“As you know, the UK takes fewer refugees than comparable European nations and Labour should be making the case for the UK to be a sanctuary for the relatively small number of people who come to our shores seeking asylum.”

Butler continued: “Myself, and many other Labour MPs, members and trade unions are utterly opposed to this obscene policy, and so I would be grateful if you would urgently clarify your spokesperson’s comments to make it clear that Labour opposes this immoral policy and would scrap it immediately if we were to form a government.”

In his leadership campaign, Starmer – a former human rights lawyer – made standing up for migrant rights’ one of his ten pledges. Pledge number 6 called for an immigration system based on compassion and dignity’ and committed to ending indefinite detention and the closure of ‘centres such as Yarl’s Wood.’

Butler was joined by Nottingham MP Nadia Whittome who tweeted: “We must reverse the Rwanda policy. But that’s also not enough. We need to repeal the Nationality and Borders Bill; shut down detention centres; dismantle the entire racist hostile environment; and build an immigration and asylum system based on compassion, not cruelty.” Zarah Sultana, a Coventry Labour MP, added that the policy “traded people who have fled war and persecution for money.” 

Starmer’s spokesman not only declined to say whether Labour would reverse the Rwanda policy but also declined to clarify if Starmer believes it is morally wrong. 

In April, Starmer told the BBC that the government should “stop and think again.” Asked whether the plans were immoral, the Labour leader responded: “I don’t think these plans will work, I think they’re going to cost a fortune.” Starmer pivoted to the need for action to stop people crossing the channel but stopped short of calling for safe and legal routes which campaigners have been demanding.

HARNESSED

The Home Office charter flight to Rwanda was abandoned earlier this week after all 138 refugees and migrants who were served deportation notices were successful in their bids to avoid being flown out.

The Independent newspaper reported that asylum seekers were taken out of their cells “harnessed like dogs” to be transported to the airport before their lawyers won last-gasp reprieves in court.

One traumatised refugee said he thought he was going to die as Home Office officials strapped a belt to his stomach and handcuffed him. Zoran, 25, a Kurd who came to Britain after fleeing persecution said: “I felt like I was going to be executed.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said the policy to relocate asylum seekers to the central African state was “immoral” and a “shame on Britain.” He had previously described the plan as “against the judgment of God.”

HUMAN RIGHTS

The involvement of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the last three cases has led to calls from many Conservative MPs for Britain to pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights. The only European country not in the convention is Russia, who withdrew following their invasion of Ukraine.

The ECHR ruled that the three detainees should not be deported until a Judicial Review in British courts takes place next month into whether the policy is lawful. The ECHR decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal in Britain, meaning the flight was grounded.

The other 135 cases all had their deportations stopped exclusively by British courts on similar grounds. The courts encouraged the government to pass a law to enable the Rwanda policy.

Boris Johnson is thought to oppose the idea of holding parliamentary debates and votes on Rwanda over fears of a rebellion by his backbenchers. The Rwanda policy was not in the Conservative manifesto.

Three quarters of his backbenchers recently voted for a leadership election, a vote the Prime Minister only won due to the ‘payroll’ vote of government ministers.

Despite the Rwanda flight being grounded by British courts, Johnson, Patel and other ministers appeared to encourage hardliners in their calls for Britain to quit the European convention. The ECHR is not part of the European Union, which Britain left due to Brexit.

Tory MP Jonathan Gullis tweeted: “The ECHR has no place in the UK judicial system. The government needs to free itself from it entirely!” Asked whether the government is considering withdrawing from the ECHR, Attorney General Suella Braverman told the BBC “all options are on the table. We’re not ruling anything in or anything out.”

Some suspect the government secretly welcomed the limited involvement of the European court because it allows hardline MPs and supportive newspapers to set the scene for the imminent announcement of a ‘British Bill of Rights’ to replace the European convention even though this threatens to break the Good Friday Agreement and Northern Ireland Protocol which were based on the convention.

Cabinet ministers have been discussing expelling the Bishops from the House of Lords because the Church of England publicly opposed the Rwanda policy. Junior minister Brendan Clarke-Smith was said to have written on a Tory WhatsApp group: ‘This is effectively a war now.’

BLAIR

This week the Rwandan government has notably been parroting the same lines, almost word-for-word, as the British government over the failed deportation. 

Ex-PM Tony Blair is known to have a close relationship with Rwandan president Paul Kagame, and Blair’s foundation has been advising the Rwandan government since 2009. 

Some Labour frontbenchers have been more critical of the Rwanda policy than their leader, but they have stopped short of explicitly calling for it to be scrapped. Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said the policy was “unethical”, while opposition whip Florence Eshalomi described it as “deeply inhumane.” 

Read more:

Rwanda deportation ‘like slavery where people are transported across continents for profit’

Protests as court rules Rwanda flight can go ahead

Britain’s new colony

Priti Patel deal for refugees: go to Rwanda or return to warzone

Why the Rwanda policy must be defeated

The manufactured ‘crisis’ of immigration

You measure a country by its humanity