James Cleverly is pressured to commit to the Rwanda scheme following claims he ‘repeatedly blocked’ efforts for a back-up plan
- One party source said that Mr Cleverly ‘had the wrong mindset for the job’
New Home Secretary James Cleverly was facing fresh questions about his commitment to the Government’s Rwanda scheme last night, amid claims he ‘repeatedly blocked’ efforts to put a back-up plan in place.
Alternative schemes including deals with a number of other African countries and British Overseas Territories – such as Ascension Island – were thwarted by Mr Cleverly in his previous job as Foreign Secretary, Tory sources said.
One highly placed source in the party said Mr Cleverly ‘has the wrong mindset for the job’ – just two weeks after he was parachuted in to replace sacked Suella Braverman.
The claim, which was denied by Mr Cleverly last night, comes amid growing Cabinet tensions over how to keep the Rwanda scheme alive after the Supreme Court blocked it this month.
Government sources had suggested a new treaty with Rwanda would be published last week, backed up by ‘emergency legislation’ to prevent further court challenges.
James Cleverly faced questions last night over his commitment to the Rwanda scheme amid claims he ‘repeatedly blocked’ plans to put a back up plan in place
Mr Cleverly voiced his opposition to quitting the ECHR at the weekend, telling The Times the Rwanda scheme was ‘not the be all and end all’ of government efforts to tackle the migrant crisis
Plans to secure deals with other African countries were abandoned after Mr Cleverly objected to them, the Mail understands
…as Labour challenges Tories on migrant targets
Labour aims to slash net migration by three-quarters, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said yesterday.
He said a Labour government would try to cut net migration to a ‘normal level’ of a ‘couple of hundred thousand a year’.
Cutting net migration from last year’s 745,000 to 200,000 would equate to areduction of 73 per cent.
But a senior Tory source called his plan ‘a joke’, adding, ‘Labour have opposed every measure to curb migration and would scrap the Rwanda scheme’, now the responsiblity of new Home Secretary James Cleverly.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper yesterday suggested raising the minimum salary for a work visa from £26,200. She added she would axe a 20 per cent pay discount for ‘shortage’ occupations, such as care workers.
But the plan has been delayed by Cabinet wrangling over how far to go in exempting it from human rights laws. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is backing radical proposals to legislate to exclude the plan from existing human rights laws, including the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
But Mr Cleverly voiced his opposition to quitting the ECHR at the weekend, telling The Times the Rwanda scheme was ‘not the be all and end all’ of the Government’s efforts to tackle the Channel migrant crisis.
Treasury minister Laura Trott yesterday appeared to rebuke Mr Cleverly, saying that the Rwanda plan was ‘central’ to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s bid to deter illegal migrants from crossing the Channel – although she played down claims of a Cabinet split.
The Mail understands that proposals to secure Rwanda-style deals with a number of other African countries had to be abandoned after Mr Cleverly objected.
‘There were other African countries Cleverly would not get into negotiations with, and then threw obstacles in the way,’ a Conservative source said.
‘He was refusing to look at it properly until the legal ruling on Rwanda had come back.
‘The Foreign Office put forward a couple of South American countries as possible contenders – without actually speaking to those nations properly about it – but they were completely unsuitable.’
Mr Cleverly also thwarted proposals to set up asylum processing centres on Ascension Island, Saint Helena or the Falkland Islands, Tory sources said.
According to Tory sources, Mr Cleverly also thwarted proposals to use British Overseas Territories for Channel migrants
A plan to use the British Overseas Territories for Channel migrants would have removed many of the human rights objections highlighted by the Supreme Court this month. ‘He blocked all of those, too,’ a source said.
‘He said the schemes would not be feasible and proceeding with them would damage Britain’s international reputation, which is a load of nonsense.
‘Cleverly just listened to “the Blob” in the Foreign Office – the civil servants who are dead against doing anything robust to tackle the Channel problem – and simply did what they advised.’
Mr Cleverly’s official spokesman insisted the claim was ‘at odds with reality’.
‘Countries identified were contacted with the full intention to see if they would meet with UK officials,’ the spokesman said.
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