Evil people smugglers are stabbing & beating migrants – we will not relent in bid to stop boats, blasts James Cleverly
BRITAIN will never “relent” from efforts to stop small boat crossings – as immigration officers rounded up passengers for the first flight to Rwanda.
Dramatic footage of the dawn raids was released by the government, but the Home Secretary rejected claims he was using it to score political points as millions of Brits go to the polls in Local Elections.
Instead James Cleverly blasted “naive” do-gooders and dingy-chasing lawyers “who believe that they are on the side of righteousness when they try and prevent these actions – but are making the situation worse.”
After another tragedy in the Channel last week, Mr Cleverly warned “a child was killed because people smugglers are beating them, they’re stabbing people, they are forcing them onto these unseaworthy boats.”
Mr Cleverly warned “a child was killed because people smugglers are beating them, they’re stabbing people, they are forcing them onto these unseaworthy boats.”
JAMES CLEVERLY: NO AMNESTY FOR MIGRANTS IN LIMBO
By MARTINA BET, political correspondent
MIGRANTS who are stuck in limbo without the ability to claim asylum or leave the UK won’t be grated amnesty, the Home Secretary has vowed.
James Cleverly slammed the door shut on such a move, questioning the precedent it would set amid a “global refugee mass movement”.
His comments come as there a fears the backlog of asylum seekers who have entered the UK illegally since last year is now too big for all of them to be sent to Rwanda.
About 40,000 have arrived since March 2023 – when the provisions of the Illegal Migration Act barring them from claiming asylum took effect.
Asked if they will be granted an amnesty, Mr Cleverly told our new politics show Never Mind The Ballots: “The only party that has done an amnesty is the Labour Party. No (we won’t), because what message would that send?
“What message would that send where there is a global refugee mass movement, in the region of 300 million people moving.
“What message would it send if we said if you get here, dig your heels in long enough, you’ll get to stay?
“It’s the Labour Party that did an amnesty. They are very quiet about that now.”
He told this week’s Never Mind the Ballots: “I am going to take action to prevent that loss of life. And the people who believe that they are on the side of righteousness when they try and prevent these actions are making the situation worse. They don’t mean to, of course they don’t mean to.
“But the point is the people smugglers rely on the naivety and goodwill of people not trying to stop them.
Also on this week’s episode of Never Mind the Ballots
- James Cleverly blasted Sadiq Khan as a ‘failure’
- He hinted fans will have more time to cheer on the Three Lions at their local boozer
- Revealed his favourite takeaway and the last time he took drugs in quickfire questions
- Alex Salmond blasted the ‘incompetence’ of the SNP
- Stephen Flynn said John Swinney has rivals ‘quaking in their boots’
“I am going to try and stop them… we are not going to relent until we have stopped them, because otherwise people die and I’m not willing to accept that.”
Mr Cleverly point blank refused calls for an amnesty for the near 50,000 boat crossers here already that face no prospect of being deported – but struggled to say how they would be kicked out of Britain.
Slamming the door shut on such a move, questioning the precedent it would set amid a “global refugee mass movement”.
JAMES CLEVERLY: PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTS ATTRACT 'PEOPLE MOTIVATED BY HATE'
By MARTINA BET, political correspondent
PRO-Palestine protests attract “people motivated by hate” and their organisers must do something about it, the Home Secretary has demanded.
James Cleverly refused to describe the rallies as “hate marches” unlike his predecessor Suella Braverman.
But he told our new politics show Never Mind The Ballots the protests are increasingly “less about solidarity with the people of Gaza”.
The Met has faced repeated criticism over the marches, which have become regular weekend occurrences in central London.
The UK’s counter-extremism tsar Robin Simcox warned earlier this year they were turning the capital into a “no-go zone for Jews every weekend”.
Asked if he would describe the demos as “hate marches”, Mr Cleverly told The Sun: “No, there are definitely people who have been attracted to those marches who are driven by hate. I don’t think the marches themselves are.
“Unfortunately, we have seen some of the slogans, on placards, on the stickers that people have worn… there are some people within them motivated by hate, and they have gravitated towards these.
“And the organisers have got to recognise that some really distasteful views have been attracted to their marches and they should do something about it.”
The Home Secretary stressed the importance of everybody feeling “safe” on the streets, including the Jewish community.
He added: “The sad truth of the matter is, too many Jewish voices tell me they do not feel comfortable. It’s conversation I have with the Met, a conversation I have with the Mayor of London, and I will continue working to make sure that everyone feel safe in the UK.”
His comments come as there a fears the backlog of asylum seekers who have entered the UK illegally since last year is now too big for all of them to be sent to Rwanda.
Around 50,000 have arrived since last summer when the provisions of the Illegal Migration Act barring them from claiming asylum took effect.
Mr Cleverly was speaking as more than 800 border cops have been deployed to round up the first Rwanda-bound migrants under a blitz codenamed Operation Vector.
A series of immigration raids kicked off this week to detain the initial tranche of asylum seekers ahead of deportation flights taking off from July.
The first cohort marked for Kigali includes both men and women – but no kids – and are living in all four corners of the UK.
They are all believed to have open-and-shut cases for removal with no realistic chance of winning legal challenges.
Mr Cleverly said the enforcement squads were “working at pace” to nab them – and released dramatic footage of the stings.
It shows officers swooping on several addresses before leading illegal migrants into the back of a van in handcuffs.
Most of the migrants set for Rwanda will be detained during their routine reporting to Home Office contact centres.
Never Mind The Ballots - local elections special
TUNE in on Friday for a special local elections edition of Never Mind The Ballots.
We’ll be joined by Tory and Labour guests to chew over the results and what they mean for both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.
If this year’s General Election is shaping up to be a prize political fight, then the locals are the all-important pre-match weigh-in.
Both Sunak and Starmer are desperate to show they are a force to be reckoned with – and will be carefully sizing up their chances based on the results.
As a final test for the main parties before the race for No10, they will prove crucial in setting the political weather for the next few months.
IF GENERAL ELECTIONS ARE A PRIZE FIGHT- LOCAL ELECTIONS ARE MATCH WEIGH IN
By Jack Elsom, Chief Political Correspondent
IF this year’s General Election is shaping up to be a prize political fight, then Thursday’s locals are the all-important pre-match weigh-in.
Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer are desperate to show they are a force to be reckoned with – and will be carefully sizing up their chances based on the results.
As a final test for the main parties before the race for No10, they will prove crucial in setting the political weather for the next few months.
While hundreds of skirmishes will take place for councils, mayoralties and police commissioners, there is a particular focus on several battlegrounds.
Mr Sunak wants to show voters – and restless Tory plotters – that he still has scope to close the gap on Sir Keir a shot at reelection.
Whereas the Labour leader will be hoping for the colossal Blair-style swings he needs to overturn the party’s 2019 thrashing.
But those who fail to keep contact will have their doors kicked in, or find Border Force officers pursuing them if they flee.
A portion of Britain’s 2,200 detention capacity has been specifically ring-fenced for Rwanda migrants.
It is understood existing detainees have been shunted out to make room, although they are not believed to be dangerous foreign offenders.
Immigration officers are braced for a wave of protest action trying to wreck their arrests, having already suffered disruption as recently as yesterday when Just Stop Oil crusties targeted their HQ.
“Our dedicated enforcement teams are working at pace to swiftly detain those who have no right to be here so we can get flights off the ground.”
Quizzed by The Sun over whether the timing of the footage was linked to today’s Local Elections, Mr Cleverly turned fire on Labour for delaying and frustrating Rwanda scheme.
He said: “The reason this has started now, rather than what I wanted, which was a number of weeks ago, is because of the delaying tactics by Labour peers in the House of Lords.
“I would have wanted, the Prime Minister and I, wanted to start this much much earlier. We’ve admitted this as starting later than we would have liked because of the delays imposed by the House of Lords.”
The Safety of Rwanda Act that finally passed last week allows illegal migrants to be detained ahead of their removal to the east African country.
The Rwanda plan is Rishi Sunak’s flagship policy to stop small boat crossings that have increased on last year.
On Tuesday 268 made the deadly journey across the Channel in a quarterly rise of 27 per cent on 2023 rates.
Mr Cleverly blasted: “We see the footage of these fit young men getting off boats. And we ask ourselves, where are the women? where are the children?”
Urged by one Sun reader to take drastic action like shooting letting the French try puncture the vessels before they leave the beaches, Mr Cleverly insisted: “I am not comfortable with the idea of people shooting towards crowded bits of beaches
What is the Rwanda plan and when will flights take off?
By JACK ELSOM
What is the Rwanda plan?
Under the flagship immigration plan, anyone who arrives in Britain illegally will never have the right to remain permanently.
For those who cannot be returned to their home country, ministers plan to send them to Rwanda, a country in eastern Africa.
The government believes the threat of being removed to Rwanda will deter migrants from making the dangerous Channel crossing in small boats.
Once in Rwanda, their asylum claims will be processed but there is no route back to the UK, save for some exceptional circumstances such as individual safety concerns.
Britain will also pay for migrants to start a new life in Rwanda for the first five years.
What’s the hold up?
First announced by Boris Johnson in 2022, the scheme has been bogged down by relentless legal challenges.
The first flight was due to take off in the summer of that year, but was blocked on the runway at the last minute by a European Court order.
Since then the legality of the plan has been contested in the courts, culminating in a Supreme Court judgement in November last year which said Rwanda was unsafe for asylum seekers.
What is Sunak doing?
To salvage the Rwanda plan from the Supreme Court’s scathing ruling, Rishi Sunak has unveiled a two-pronged workaround.
First, he has signed a new treaty with Rwanda to beef up protections for asylum seekers that have been enshrined in law.
Second, he has introduced new legislation that declares Rwanda a safe country.
It means courts, police and officials would have to treat Rwanda as safe and therefore throw out legal challenges to deportation.
He has given ministers the power to ignore European grounding orders to avoid a repeat of the 2022 runway fiasco.
When will flights take off?
Five months after the Supreme Court appeared to have sunk the Rwanda plan, it is now back on track.
Mr Sunak insists both Britain and Rwanda are ready for the first flights to take off in July to kickstart a “regular rhythm” of planes.
The process of detaining those migrants earmarked for the first flights has now begun, although the Home Office is remaining tight-lipped over how they have been selected.
Will it work?
The Safety of Rwanda Act is the third piece of legislation designed to stop small boats in two years.
Mr Sunak is confident that this one is finally tough enough to make deportations to Kigali a viable threat, and therefore deter illegal migrants making the dangerous Channel crossing.
One thing for certain is that an army of lawyers are gearing up to launch legal challenges on behalf of those individuals scheduled for removal.
The threshold they have to meet is that migrants face a risk of “serious and irreversible harm” by being sent to Kigali.
Ministers previously insisted that the Safety of Rwanda Act would force courts to throw out around 95 per cent of all claims.
Time will tell if the legislation is as watertight as they hope – and whether it proves to be an effective deterrent for those considering piling into small boats.
