The Home Secretary told rowdy Labor politicians to ‘calm down and listen’ during her ministerial speech in the House of Commons today, before suggesting they were ‘not even listening’ to her. Dismissing allegations that her Rwandan policy was illegal, she then blamed Labor politicians for frequently trying to convince her not to deport people who “have no legal basis to stay in our country”.
Ms Patel was responding to calls from MP Theresa May to explain the eligibility criteria for refugees seeking asylum in the UK.
The former Prime Minister wondered if the current policy would not lead “simply to an increase in the trafficking of women and children”.
Ms Patel said she was ‘very happy to meet the Right Honorable Lady to discuss this further’ before being heckled by backbench Labor MPs.
She then said, “No, actually calm down and listen”, before accusing opposition members of “not even listening to her”.
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Facing more screams from across the room, she said, “If you’re interested in listening to the responses, please do so.”
“Now I think the Right Honorable Lady would respect that I am not going to come upstairs to the house and talk about the eligibility criteria.
“Because in fact, she will know that it is this type of criteria that is used by smuggling gangs to effectively exploit loopholes in our existing laws.”
She added: “Many of the members across from me are writing me letters asking me not to deport some of the failed asylum seekers and foreign offenders, people who actually have no legal basis for staying in our country.”
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During his speech today, former Tory cabinet minister David Davis questioned the financial reality of the deal and asked how Ms Patel would ‘protect the British taxpayer’.
Concerns come as Labor politicians, such as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, have claimed the bill will be in the tens of billions, well above the £120m given to Rwanda so far. ‘now.
Mr Davis asked how the government would mitigate the costs of asylum seekers falling ill in Rwanda, which has one of the highest incidences of malaria in the world.
Ms Patel said: “The work we have undertaken and the partnership with the Rwandan government [includes] provide care in terms of the health and resettlement needs of these people.
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Source: www.express.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-04-19 23:00:00
