From my partner Aubrey Allegretti
A Conservative MP not impressed with Jacob Rees-Mogg’s latest message to his WhatsApp group: “The man who wants to know what officials are in the office doesn’t want people to know who the MPs are.” pic.twitter.com/epf0F2Amn1
– Aubrey Allegretti (@breeallegretti) June 14, 2022
Truss says an almost empty flight to Rwanda for asylum seekers would still be “good value for money”
And here are a few more lines from Liz Truss interviews this morning.
- Truss, the foreign minister, said that by the end of the year the number of asylum seekers deported to Rwanda would be “significant”. But he didn’t put a number on what that meant.
- He claimed that tonight’s flight would be “good value for money”, although he also admitted that it could contain only a handful of asylum seekers. (See 9.04am.) According to some reports, the flight will cost around £ 500,000. Truss did not confirm or say what the actual cost would be, but said it would be “good value for money” because flights would deter people from crossing the Canal in small boats. “It’s value for money,” he said, adding, “We want to stop these costs [the costs of small boat Channel crossings] both in monetary cost and in human misery ”.
- He said there was no reason why the EU should react negatively to legislation published yesterday that allowed the UK not to implement large parts of the Northern Ireland protocol. She explained:
Our solution does not make the EU situation worse. We continue to protect the single market, we are providing data to the EU, we have a strong application to ensure that companies do not break the rules.
Therefore, there is no reason for the EU to react negatively to what we are doing.
- He said he was doing his best to secure the release of the two British men sentenced to death after being captured fighting the Russians in Ukraine. But he said he wanted to do what was “most effective” and would not discuss his strategy in public. She explained:
I’m doing everything I can in the best way I can, in the way I think is most effective, to free these people. I will do whatever it takes to secure their release
“I have assured families that I will do my best to secure their release and not enter into our live strategy.
He said that dealing with the Ukrainians on this was the “best route.”
- He said that when he said in February that he would support the British going to Ukraine to fight the Russian invaders, he also said that the travel advice was that people should not go there. He was asked on the Today program whether the fate of the two British men sentenced to death had made him reflect on the wisdom of what he said. In response, he stated that at the time he was clear that travel advice said that people should not go to Ukraine. When she was told her real words at the time, she replied:
I also said that the travel advice was not to go to Ukraine.
In fact, in the original interview in which he said he would support the British who will fight in Ukraine, he did not say anything about the government’s travel advice saying that this would be a mistake. The government later clarified its position.
Liz Truss arrives at the office this morning. Photo: Peter Nicholls / Reuters
Updated at 10.12 BST
According to the BBC’s Mark Easton, only seven asylum seekers will be on the flight to Rwanda tonight.
Now only 7 asylum seekers have to be transferred to Rwanda on a transfer flight from @ukhomeoffice tonight. The 767-seat 767 is likely to have cost £ 0.5 million, but ministers say it is important to set the principle.
– Mark Easton (@BBCMarkEaston) June 14, 2022
Updated at 09.43 BST
Truss responds to bishops saying Rwanda’s deportation policy “shames Britain”, saying they have no alternative plan
Good morning. This evening, the first flight will leave the UK with asylum seekers crossing the Channel on a round trip to Rwanda. It is the first flight scheduled under a policy announced earlier this year and described by Home Secretary Tom Pursglove on Monday in the Commons as a “world first” and part of a “leading global association on migration and economic development with Rwanda “. ”That“ would change the way we collectively deal with illegal immigration ”.
There is a different assessment of the merits of politics in the Times this morning, where the 25 bishops and archbishops sitting in the House of Lords have signed a letter saying it is an “immoral policy” that “shames Britain”. Here is the full letter.
Whether the first deportation flight leaves Britain today for Rwanda or not, this policy should embarrass us as a nation. Rwanda is a brave country recovering from a catastrophic genocide. Shame is ours, because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness, and justice, as we have done for centuries. Those to be deported to Rwanda have had no chance of appealing or reuniting with family in Britain. They have not considered their asylum application, recognition of their medical or other needs, or any attempt to understand their situation.
Many are desperate people fleeing from indescribable horrors. Many are Iranians, Eritreans and Sudanese citizens, who have an asylum rate of at least 88%. These are people that Jesus had in mind, because when we offer hospitality to a stranger, we do it for him. They are the vulnerable ones that the Old Testament calls us to value. We cannot offer asylum to everyone, but we must not outsource our ethical responsibilities, nor discard international law, which protects the right to seek asylum.
We need to end the bad traffic; many churches are involved in their struggle. This requires global cooperation at all levels of society. To reduce dangerous travel in the UK we need safe routes – the church will continue to defend them. But deportations, and the possible forced return of asylum seekers to their home countries, are not the way to go. This immoral policy is embarrassing in Britain.
Secretary of State Liz Truss has been in government interview service this morning and has rejected the assertion of Church of England leaders. She told Sky News:
I do not agree [the letter], the people who are immoral in this case are the traffickers of people who trade in human misery. These people should suggest an alternative policy that works. Our policy is completely legal, it is completely moral.
What I am telling policy critics that they have no alternative on how to deal with this illegal immigration is that they have no alternative, they are criticizing our policy which is effective and works.
Only about seven or eight asylum seekers are still scheduled for tonight’s flight. Originally the figure was much higher, but many people have managed to stop their deportation orders by going to court. More legal challenges are to be filed today, and some government sources have said that this could lead to the cancellation of the flight before the scheduled departure time at 9:30 p.m.
But in interviews this morning, Truss said the flight would take off tonight. He told the Today program:
What I can say is that the flight will leave tonight for Rwanda and if people are not on the flight today they will do so on the next flights.
When asked if he could leave without asylum seekers, he replied:
I’m sure there will be people. What I don’t know is how many people will participate. But the important thing is that we establish the principle, that we establish the deterrent element to deter these gangs of human trafficking from the terrible human misery with which they are negotiating.
Here is the agenda of the day.
9:30 a.m .: Boris Johnson chairs the cabinet.
10:00 a.m .: High court is expected to hear more legal challenges on behalf of individual asylum seekers facing deportation to Rwanda on a flight due out tonight.
10am: Lord Geidt, the independent adviser on ministerial standards, testifies before the Committee on Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs of the Commons.
11am: Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon holds a press conference to present the first of a series of documents defending Scottish independence.
11:30 a.m .: Downing Street holds an information session in the lobby.
12.15pm: Robert Courts, the Minister of Aviation, testifies before the Works Council on the cancellation of flights.
12:30 pm: MPs begin debating a Labor motion censoring Kevin Foster, the Minister of Legal Migration, for his handling of the crisis at the Passport Office.
2.30pm: Dame Vera Baird, Victims Commissioner for England and Wales, testifies before the House Justice Committee on the draft Victims Act.
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Updated at 09.30 BST