Thangam Debbonaire claimed the plan is ‘never going to work’
The row within the Tory Party over the Rwanda deportation plan shows that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is a weak leader, according to Labour’s shadow culture secretary.
Thangam Debbonaire told GB News: “What we saw over the weekend was indicative of the weak leadership that we have from Rishi Sunak and the total chaos that there is in this government.
“And moreover, the fact that they are concentrating on a plan that's never going to work, when there are people up and down the country worried sick about how they're going to pay their bills, how they're going to pay their mortgage, if they come off a fixed rate or their rent.
“There are so many problems in this country that need tackling for which Labour has got a plan. The Tories seem to be absolutely nowhere on this and we're just in chaos yet again.”
In a discussion during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, she continued: “This is a problem of their own making. Just last year, 100,000 more people joined the asylum queue and we've got a backlog of 130,000.
“Now the Labour Party would recruit 1,000 more caseworkers to deal with that backlog urgently because we may have people who are in hotels costing the taxpayer now £8 million per day - eye-watering, especially in a cost of living crisis.
“Without processing them, we’ve got no idea whether or not there are people there who really shouldn't be here, who are a danger to our country and our national security. Under a Labour government with our plan we will be getting them processed and we'll be sending them home if they're not supposed to be here.
“But if they are entitled to be here, we want them to be able to get on with working and contributing to this country as they want to do so, then get on with their lives.”
She added: “Some of these people are Afghan interpreters and their families who we promised to keep safe. We are failing them.”
