Hundreds of millions were spent; no one was deported
As part of its new border security bill, the UK government is repealing the Safety of Rwanda Act.
So what? Historians may ask why it ever passed. The act stated that Rwanda was a safe country to which to deport asylum seekers even though the UK’s Supreme Court had ruled it was not. The repeal marks the formal end of a scheme that
- cost taxpayers £715 million;
- failed to deport a single asylum seeker against their will; and
- was described by the Law Society as “defective” and “constitutionally improper”.
It also marks the return of immigration to the top of the UK’s political agenda as both Labour and the Conservatives try to outmanoeuvre Nigel Farage’s Reform Party.
Labour is now using social media adverts that ape the colours of its political rivals as it promotes a claim of making ‘record’ deportations since taking office.
Money no object. In the end the Rwanda plan was an exercise in ratcheting up costs and diverting resources towards attempting to get a single plane off the runway. Last December the Home Office itemised some of its costs including £270 million to support economic development in Rwanda, £95 million on detention and reception centres and £280 million on “other fixed costs”.
£50 million was spent preparing for flights that never took off. Of that, Tortoise can reveal that
- £37.8m was spent on escorting – hiring and training security guards to deal with the asylum seekers being deported to Rwanda;
- £8m spent on airfield preparation for the putative flights;
- £4m spent covering the cost of policing the airfield; and
- just £200,000 spent on the flights themselves.
The Kigali Four. Although no asylum seekers were ever deported to Kigali, four ‘volunteers’ were sent there. Tortoise has unearthed the script used by Home Office officials trying to persuade people to take up a “generous one-time offer” of a relocation package to Rwanda. One source said this demonstrated an “insane level of resource that went into just proving the concept”.
People no object. Over the course of three prime ministers’ stints in Downing Street – those of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – the number of people involved in trying to implement the Rwanda scheme spiralled from ten “hand picked” at an early stage to around 1,000 people, multiple sources said.
That came with a price tag of £87 million. Meanwhile, sources estimate that the government’s litigation costs alone will reach between £5 million and £10 million – but it’s understood the final bill has not yet arrived.
Coy Whitehall. Officials have revealed little about the Rwanda scheme ever since Labour ruled out continuing with it before last summer’s election. Tortoise understands some of the cost breakdown has come as a surprise to those now in charge.
Defiant Tories. Despite everything, Conservative sources who worked on the policy insist it was not a dud.
- They argue that a ‘value for money’ determination was never made because it was scrapped before it could be tested. The deterrence effect would only have been established after implementation.
- They claim Labour’s decision to ditch it in favour of a focus on people-trafficking gangs means the jury is still out on whether it would have worked.
It’s safe to say that’s not a universal view, but it may be why Labour is now repealing the legislation rather than simply ignoring it. By doing so, they effectively salt the earth – making it harder for any future governments to pick up where Starmer’s predecessor, Rishi Sunak, left off.
Even so… Labour knows immigration still represents a challenge on which its success in future elections could hinge. The Rwanda plan may not have succeeded, but neither – so far – has anything else.
Further listening: The Rwanda Plan: How to waste £700 million
