Southampton’s MPs have reacted to the news that the government has passed its Rwanda Bill, after months of debate, with it being warned that further legal challenges could lie ahead.
Monday night saw MPs gather in the House of Commons, who voted in favour of passing the Prime Minister’s Rwanda Bill.
The scheme can now enter the final phase of operational planning to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, with the country deemed a safe place to relocate people as the Government tries to cut down on illegal immigration to the UK.
Reacting to the news, Southampton Conservative Itchen MP, Royston Smith, told the Echo: “I’m relieved we’ve finally got the Rwanda bill onto the statute book.
“The Prime Minister has vowed to stop the boats and break the hideous and dangerous people trafficking model.”
He added: “The passing of the bill means we can finally deter people from risking their lives in the English Channel."
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Labour MP for Southampton Test, Alan Whitehead, voted against the bill on Monday evening, telling the Echo he didn’t understand the purpose of the legislation.
He said: “The government has already spent around £300m on the scheme, with the number of boats crossing the channel only increasing, rather than decreasing since the debate around it started, so it’s not much of a deterrent in that sense.
“The scheme doesn’t make any sense as it’s not impacting how many people are actually coming into the country, whereas tighter security of the UK borders would do that.”
The Southampton Test MP went on to say that the Government would likely be faced with further legal challenges going forward.
“There could be further legal challenges ahead,” he said.
“The Supreme Court initially said that Rwanda wasn’t a safe place to transport asylum seekers, and that’s what Monday’s vote centred around, but it doesn’t mean people will actually agree to sending people there.
“It’s difficult to say if any flights will take off before the General Election this year, as the Government has said there won’t be any flights for at least 10 weeks.
“A new Labour government would repeal the legislation.”
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