The party’s shadow education secretary said it plans to fund training schemes to plug skills gaps
The Government’s Rwanda will get through the House of Commons but it is a “total gimmick”, according to Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary.
Bridget Phillipson told GB News: “We won't be supporting the Government this evening. I expect they will get their legislation through.
“They have a big majority in parliament, but we don't believe what they're setting out around the Rwanda project is the right way to be approaching this.
“We don't think it's a workable scheme. We think it's a total gimmick. We've already spent £300 million with no plans to send anyone there.”
Speaking during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, she said: “I think reforming our arrangements with our European partners will be a bigger priority, because we need to have more effective arrangements for returning people who don't have cause to be here in the UK, but we do just need to process cases far more quickly.
“Well over 100,000 cases, they're not being processed. And that includes people who do have a legitimate right to be here who have fled persecution and oppression.
“But for those who don't we need to process their cases so they can be returned to a safe alternative country and that's not happening at the moment because the Home Office has been left in a total shambles by this government.”
She added: “We do need a balanced approach as a country, a fair and workable system for people who come here legally to work to contribute to our economy, to our vital public services, but it has to be a fair system that takes account of the wider needs of the economy.
“I also think we do need to do a lot more to invest in skills and in the people who are already here. That's why Labour's got plans around more apprenticeship starts greater support and training for young people so that we are meeting those skills gaps that we see in that there are more opportunities for people to train here in the UK, but as a nation, of course, people will always come from overseas to contribute to our country.”
