Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda

Caroline Lucas Excerpts

Wednesday 15th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

My right hon. Friend is trying to tempt me. He will know my own full-hearted views on taking back control, but also on the need for controlled migration, which is at the heart of the work the Government are bringing forward. With that, of course, we must build on our Brexit opportunities, which quite frankly, as we keep learning day in, day out, the Labour party wants to completely destroy: it wants to take us back into the EU.

[Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)]

The Home Secretary has the gall to talk about a moral response to this situation. The moral response would be to provide safe and legal routes for those people who are exercising their legal right—their legal right—to seek asylum. The Government do not even have a basic monitoring and safety process in place for this ugly policy. The monitoring committee promised in their memorandum of under-standing with Rwanda is still not going to be set up for several months. She is not even exercising the most basic care. Is that because she knows full well that, if she did, no decent committee or procedure would ever agree to trade refugees in this despicable way?

[Priti Patel]

I want to come back to the grotesque mis-characterisation of the country in question, Rwanda. It is a shame and a stain, actually.

[Caroline Lucas]

I haven’t said anything about Rwanda.

[Priti Patel]

The hon. Lady may like to read the country report, and the work that has been done in country and in terms of the monitoring committee. That work is actually taking place and we have had officials in country for weeks and weeks in the two months, not several months, since we made this announcement.