02 Jul Rwanda deportation plan will go to the Supreme Court, says Steve Barclay
CABINET minister Steve Barclay has defended the Government’s policies on immigration and said the issue will be decided by the Supreme Court.
He told GB News: “The cost needs to be looked at in terms of the deterrence effect as well. What the assessments suggest is if nothing was done, the cost could escalate as high as £11 billion.
“So it’s important that we do act. That is why we put in place the legislation to take action on this. I think people are very clear when I speak to them that they want the boats stopped, that’s why the Prime Minister made it one of his five key priorities and that is what we’re doing now.
“The High Court supported the Government on this, the Lord Chief Justice supported the Government in the court of appeal, but two other judges didn’t. We respect the court, we’ve got the best judiciary in the world in the UK, but we do think that this now should go to the Supreme Court.
“It’s right we take action to stop the boats. That is what we’re determined to do. The Prime Minister has made it a key priority.”
In a discussion with Camilla Tominey, he continued: “The Rwanda policy isn’t the only aspect of stopping the boats, there are things like the returns deal with Albania, which has had a dramatic effect in reducing the number of Albanians coming across on small boats.
“But we do think it’s important in terms of deterrence. That’s why the deal has been reached. We’re going to test that now in the Supreme Court.
“As I say, the High Court supported the Government on it and I think your viewers want the Government to take action. That is what we’re doing. We’re doing so in a way that clearly complies with the legal process, but it’s important we now take this to the Supreme Court.
“The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary are determined to stop the boats and if we don’t then there’ll be a huge cost and of course Labour have no plan at all.”
Asked if the PM would meet his five pledges he added: “We’re making progress. If we look at the one that sits with me in terms of waiting times, we had a plan to address the longest waits, the two-year waits, last summer. We’ve virtually eliminated those.
“Our next target was to address the 18-month waits. We got over 90% of those cleared by the end of March and we would have cleared them but for the industrial action, but we made huge progress.”
