US News Today

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has said not a single asylum seeker will go to Rwanda under a Labour government. The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration Bill) cleared Parliament shortly after midnight today (23 April) after peers backed down, ending resistance to the scheme. The prime minister hopes the Rwanda scheme will deter migrants from seeking to cross the English Channel, Ms Cooper called the Bill an extortionately expensive gimmick rather than a serious plan to tackle dangerous boat crossings during an interview with Sky News. When asked by presenter Kay Burley: So no one during a Labour government will go to Rwanda?, Ms Cooper replied: No, that’s not our plan.

The capital of Rwanda, Kigali, is safer than London, deputy foreign minister Andrew Mitchell has claimed. Mr Mitchell made his comments as he urged peers to back down over the governments deportation bill on Monday (22 April). Mr Mitchell said amendments to the Rwanda bill were not necessary and further ping pong between the Lords and the Commons was not the right way to proceed. In his interview on Radio 4 Todays programme, he said: It is absolutely extraordinary what the Rwandan government has achieved in all walks of life. It is a safe country. And indeed, if you look at the statistics, Kigali is arguably safer than London.