Kay Burley had a fiery exchange with shadow chancellor Mel Stride on Sky News as they dissected the spectacular failure of the Conservative government’s controversial Rwanda deportation scheme, which cost taxpayers a staggering £715 million—and saw not a single asylum seeker sent to the East African nation.
A ‘Grotesque Waste of Money’
The Home Office recently confirmed the eye-watering sum spent on the policy, which was originally signed in April 2022 by then-home secretary Priti Patel. The idea? To send asylum seekers who entered the UK illegally to Rwanda as a deterrent for others attempting to cross the Channel in small boats.
But thanks to intervention by the European Court of Human Rights and a UK Supreme Court ruling that deemed the policy unlawful, not one deportation flight ever took off. Labour’s home secretary Yvette Cooper, who officially cancelled the scheme after her party came to power, labelled it “a grotesque waste of money.”
Burley vs. Stride: A Clash of Perspectives
On Sky News, Burley didn’t mince her words when questioning Stride, who served in the last Conservative cabinet and now finds himself in opposition. Stride tried to pin the blame on Labour for scrapping the policy after the election, saying: “The reason there was money arguably wasted was because Labour scrapped the scheme before it came into operation.”
Burley wasn’t having it. “No, stop it,” she fired back. “You spent hundreds of millions of pounds on the Rwanda scheme, and you had more home secretaries go there than anybody who’d been sent as a result of the scheme.”
Why Call the Election?
Stride defended his former government, claiming they were “on the brink of getting the flights off the ground” and that the policy’s deterrent effect was already working. But Burley quickly shot back: “Well, why did you call the election in July then? Why didn’t you wait until the planes had gone and then call the election in November?”
Stride’s response was predictably vague: “Elections are called at a particular time for a variety of different issues.”
When Stride then claimed that asylum seekers were “waiting in France for Labour to take over so they could cross the Channel,” Burley pressed further, asking: “Says who? Anecdotally?”
A Policy Grounded From the Start
The Rwanda scheme, announced with much fanfare, quickly hit turbulence. After being signed off by Priti Patel and Rwandan foreign minister Vincent Biruta in 2022, it faced intense legal challenges. The European Court of Human Rights halted deportation flights, and by the time the UK Supreme Court ruled it unlawful, the policy was dead in the water.
Despite its lofty ambitions, the scheme now serves as a costly reminder of the challenges of addressing immigration through quick fixes and headline-grabbing plans. And as Burley pointed out, it may go down in history as one of the most expensive—and fruitless—policies ever pursued by a UK government.
Where Do We Go From Here?
With £715 million down the drain and no planes ever leaving the runway, the legacy of the Rwanda scheme remains a sore point for the Conservatives. As Labour continues to dismantle their policies, questions about accountability—and the next steps for managing immigration—remain unanswered. For now, though, Burley’s takedown of Stride is likely to linger longer than any of his attempted deflections.
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