Keir Starmer ends Rwanda scheme on first day as PM, insider claims

Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak

An insider has claimed that Keir Starmer has scrapped the Conservative's Rwanda scheme on his first day as Prime Minister

PA
Georgina Cutler

By Georgina Cutler


Published: 05/07/2024

- 23:23

Updated: 06/07/2024

- 00:08

The Rwanda deportation proposal is said to be effectively 'dead'

An insider has claimed that Keir Starmer has scrapped the Conservative's Rwanda scheme on his first day as Prime Minister.

The Rwanda deportation proposal is effectively "dead" after the party pledged to kill the plans if they won the election.


The new Government has set illegal migration as one of their key priorities.

Boris Johnson was the first to announce the Rwanda scheme, which was continued by Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria Starmer

The Rwanda deportation proposal is effectively "dead" after the party pledged to kill the plans if they won the election

PA

However, one Labour insider says the campaign is now "dead".

"If Rishi Sunak thought Rwanda would work, he wouldn’t have called an election," they told The Telegraph.

"It was a con. By calling an election, Sunak was acknowledging that fact."

The scheme can be terminated under a break clause - with the UK not required to make any more payments from the date it is triggered.

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So far, Britain has paid £270million as part of the deal.

Britain would save another two £50m payments in 2025 and 2026 if the contract was terminated.

However, the UK would still be required to pay for any migrants who had already been relocated.

There have been no deportations, but two failed asylum seekers went to Rwanda voluntarily under a separate agreement that saw them offered a £3,000 to go.

Rwanda flightRwanda deportation flights have previously been blocked by the ECHRPA

Yvette Cooper, the new Home Secretary, said on Friday that one of the first duties of government was to "keep our borders secure".

Cooper said she would prioritise a new Border Security Command in her early meetings with officials.

During his first speech as Prime Minister, Starmer said he promises a "government of service", adding that his approach to leadership would be "unburdened by doctrine".

GB News has approached the Labour Party for comment.

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