Ex-home secretary Ken Clarke backs Rwanda deportation scheme

Ex-home secretary Ken Clarke backs Rwanda deportation scheme saying it should be ‘given a chance’ to cut Channel boat crossings

The Rwanda deportation scheme should be ‘given a chance’ to cut Channel boat crossings, former home secretary Ken Clarke said today.

The Tory veteran – long seen as on the left of the party – underlined his support for the plan as the government prepares for the latest battle with peers.

Writing in The Telegraph, Lord Clarke said while he has advocated the benefits that migrants bring to Britain, ‘doing nothing about illegal immigration is not an option’.

He said: ‘Importantly, in all the debate about the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill, no one has advanced an alternative.

‘I have listened keenly for an idea of how else we might deal with the mounting problem of irregular migration, but answer has come there none.’

It comes as 1,070 migrants crossed the Channel in 13 boats on Friday and in seven boats on Saturday, according to Home Office figures (pictured, more arrivals yesterday)

The Rwanda deportation scheme should be ‘given a chance’ to cut Channel boat crossings, former home secretary Ken Clarke said

The flagship legislation passed through the House of Commons but has met fierce opposition in the Lords.

It aims to ensure those who arrive in the UK without permission will be detained and promptly removed, either to their home country or a third country such as Rwanda.

The legislation is set for a third reading in the House of Lords later, but the government is set to reverse a host of amendments made by peers – triggering a bout of so-called ‘ping pong’ between the chambers.  

Lord Clarke said he is not making his comments out of ‘slavish loyalty’ and he has not always been an admirer of the Government.

But he lauded the Government’s approach to welcoming in Ukrainians and people from Hong Kong.

He said: ‘We are not becoming a walled-in, closed country. That is a good British contribution to a tremendous problem for the whole of the Western World.

‘Everyone knows that (illegal migration) is a huge problem, and that, if we cannot find a solution, people will die in the Channel in considerable numbers by taking risks as they come here.’

It comes as 1,070 migrants crossed the Channel in 13 boats on Friday and in seven boats on Saturday, according to Home Office figures.

That takes the provisional total for the year so far to over 12,500 people.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been fighting to get her central policy of forcibly removing unauthorised arrivals to Rwanda off the ground after it was blocked by appeal judges.

The Government has lodged a bid to take its legal battle to the Supreme Court.

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