British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has declared that he is abandoning the Conservatives’ controversial policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda and vowed to follow voters’ mandate for change.
“The Rwanda programme was dead and buried before it even began,” Starmer said in his first press conference on Saturday.
“It never had a deterrent effect. Quite the opposite.”
No asylum seeker has yet been deported under this program, which critics have described as an “absurd and inhumane adventure à la Alice in Wonderland.”
Numerous people, reportedly as many as 200, who had faced deportation were recently released on bail by immigration judges because there was no longer a realistic prospect of deportation within a reasonable time frame.
Sir Keir has announced he will restrict Channel crossings by employing specialist investigators and using counter-terrorism powers to break up “the criminal gangs” behind the influx of migrants to the UK. How this will work in practice, however, is still largely unknown.
The financial consequences of withdrawing from the business and the total bill for the taxpayer are not yet known.
Earlier this year, Rwandan President Paul Kagame hinted that British taxpayers’ money could be repaid if the deal fell through, but his assessment of the change in British leadership is uncertain.
Yolande Makolo, a spokeswoman for his government, later said the country was “not obliged” to repay any of the funds, but if Britain demands repayment, “we will consider it.”
In a wood-panelled room at 10 Downing Street, Starmer told reporters he was “steadfastly yearning for change” but declined to comment on how quickly Britons would see improvements in their living standards or public services.
His Labour Party dealt the Conservatives the biggest blow in their two-hundred-year history on Friday with a landslide victory based on their programme for change.
His new government faces the enormous challenge of solving many domestic problems and winning over a population exhausted by years of austerity, political chaos and a battered economy.
“We have a huge amount of work to do, so let’s get on with our work now,” Starmer said.
He said it was the greatest honour of his life when King Charles III ceremonially commissioned him to form a government and officially appointed him Prime Minister.
Among the many problems they face are reviving the sluggish economy, fixing the broken health care system and restoring trust in the government.
“Just because Labour won a landslide victory doesn’t mean that all the problems the Conservative government faced have gone away,” says Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London.
In his first remarks as prime minister on Friday after the “kissing of hands” ceremony with Charles at Buckingham Palace, Starmer said he would get to work immediately but warned it would take time to see results.
“Changing a country is not like flicking a switch,” he said as enthusiastic supporters cheered him outside his new office at 10 Downing.
“It will take some time. But have no doubt that the change will begin immediately.”
After a six-week campaign, he will have a busy schedule: on Sunday he will visit all four nations of the United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – all of which he says voted for Labour.
He will then travel to Washington on Tuesday for a NATO meeting and will host the summit of the European Political Community on 18 July, a day after the opening of Parliament and the King’s speech setting out the new government’s agenda.
with PA