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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Lizzy Buchan & John Stevens

8 times Suella Braverman can't explain how 'cruel' Channel migrants plan will work

Clueless Suella Braverman repeatedly failed to answer basic questions over how her cruel plans to crack down on Channel migrants will work.

The Home Secretary floundered on the details of where she will detain asylum seekers, when she will begin deporting them and how much it will cost.

She has already been slammed for ridiculous scaremongering after she claimed 100 million people want to move to Britain.

The Government unveiled new plans yesterday for asylum seekers arriving illegally to be detained without bail or judicial review for 28 days before being deported to their home country or a "safe third country" such as Rwanda.

Desperate people arriving in small boats will face a lifetime ban on returning to the UK - and will be blocked from gaining British citizenship.

Ms Braverman insists the new Illegal Immigration Bill wouldn't break the law - despite writing on the face of the legislation that there was a "more (than) 50% chance" it may not be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

A group of people thought to be migrants arrive in Dungeness, Kent, after being rescued in the Channel by the RNLI (PA)

The Government has also faced questions about whether the idea would even work as Tory plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda have been tied up in the courts.

Today, Ms Braverman got into difficulty when pushed on the small print of the hardline plans during a disastrous round of TV and radio interviews.

In a grilling on Sky News, she was unable to say when new detention centres for migrants who arrive on small boats will be built, or when the first removals would take place under the plans.

She said "we are rolling out new detention spaces" but added "I'm not going to give precise dates" because of logistical challenges.

"But very, very soon we will be expanding our detention capacity to meet the the need," she said.

Asked about when people would begin being deported, she said: "I can't give you precise dates, we have lots of processes which are in train."

Ms Braverman also couldn't say when failed asylum claimants would begin being shipped to Rwanda.

She said: "We will be going into an appeal hearing in April relating to the Rwanda scheme. We will then await a judgement from the Court of Appeal. You'd have to ask the the judiciary as to the timetable, which we will respect."

Boris Johnson's Government signed a deal last year to those who reached the UK after crossing the Channel in small boats to the African country.

Rishi Sunak has made stopping Channel crossings one of his key priorities (Leon Neal/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

But the first flight was grounded in June after an eleventh hour legal challenge- and the policy is still going through the courts.

The Home Secretary also failed FOUR times to answer how much it will cost to deport each person under the scheme.

Pressed by Sky News' Kay Burley, she said: "Well at the moment it's costing £6million per day to support asylum seekers who are being housed in hotel accommodation."

Asked for "facts", she said: "We'll save £3billion a year if we are able to get this bill onto the statute books, if we are able to relocate people to Rwanda and if we're able to stop the boats."

Ms Braverman also claimed the numbers of arrivals using illegal routes would "fall dramatically" - but without saying when.

She told BBC Breakfast: "We will see, based on other countries' experiences, that once we're able to relocate people who've come here illegally from the United Kingdom to another safe country, like Rwanda, or back to their own home country, then, actually, the numbers of people making the journey in the first place will fall dramatically."

She later said up to 80,000 people could cross the Channel on small boats this year.

"I think it will be very clear by the time of the next election whether we have succeeded or not," she said.

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: “Suella Braverman can’t even answer basic questions about her flawed, callous and inhumane policy.

“To suggest that those who oppose these divisive plans are somehow betraying Britain is stooping to a new low. It is an insult to all those worried about the dangerous rhetoric of this Conservative government and their heartless, unworkable approach.

“Britain has a proud history of offering sanctuary to refugees. To turn our back on those fleeing war and persecution trashes that proud legacy - and that’s the real unpatriotic move."

The UN's refugee agency said it was "profoundly concerned" by the Bill, which is said will amount to an "asylum ban".

Vicky Tennant, UNHCR representative to the UK, told Newsnight: "We believe it's a clear breach of the Refugee Convention. And remember, even people with very compelling claims will simply not have the opportunity to put these forward."

Critics also included BBC presenter Gary Lineker, who faced censure from the broadcaster after writing on Twitter: "This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s."

Amnesty International UK branded the plan a "shocking new low".

Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK's refugee and migrant rights director, said: "It's frankly chilling to see ministers trying to remove human rights protections for groups of people whom they've chosen to scapegoat for their own failures.

"People fleeing persecution and conflict will be irreparably harmed by these proposals, while the UK is setting an utterly terrible example to other countries around the world."

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