Surprise! Europe copies Britain’s Rwanda plan
THE European Parliament’s largest political party last night adopted plans to copy Britain’s Rwanda asylum scheme.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has given her support to the European People’s Party Group’s deportation programme allowing illegal migrants to be sent to a ‘safe third country’.
It will be seen as a huge vindication of the UK Government’s plan to send migrants to the East African nation – the cornerstone of its efforts to deter small boat crossings in the Channel.
The EPP, which is composed of national Christian democrat parties, is predicted to remain the largest group in the European Parliament after June’s elections, with its lead candidate Mrs von der Leyen the firm favourite to be re-elected as president.
The centre-right group’s new manifesto, adopted at a conference in Romanian capital Bucharest last night, states: ‘We want to implement the concept of safe third countries. Anyone applying for asylum in the European Union could also be transferred to a safe third country and undergo the asylum process there.’
It opens the prospect of Brussels moving to set up a Europewide Rwanda- style removals scheme after the elections. ‘We have to lower the number of arrivals,’ EPP leader Manfred Weber said last night.
Meanwhile, the House of Lords yesterday continued its onslaught against the Government’s efforts to get Rwanda flights off the ground.
In a new defeat for Rishi Sunak, unelected peers voted last night by 278 votes to 189 to amend the Safety of Rwanda Bill so UK courts will be able to hear legal challenges against deportations. They also voted by 265 to 181 to let the courts hear appeals against migrant age assessments. In all, peers defeated the Government on ten votes.
Yesterday former Tory minister Lord Lilley warned Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to ‘check his white privilege’ over his opposition to the Bill.
The ex-social security secretary told the chamber that there was a precedent for Parliament declaring certain countries safe.
Lord Lilley, addressing Mr Welby, said: ‘What’s the difference? The first is that in those days the list were all white countries, now we’re dealing with a black country. And I just warn him that he’d better check his white privilege and his colonial assumptions or he might find himself in trouble with some bishops.’
Meanwhile, an inquiry opened yesterday into the deadliest Channel migrant tragedy so far. Chairman Sir Ross Cranston warned there would be ‘no place for obstruction or foot dragging’ in his probe into the events of November 24, 2021, which saw at least 27 people perish including a pregnant woman and three children.