A Liberal Democrat MP laid into the Rwanda plan on BBC Question Time, saying the government just wanted it to boost them in the opinion polls.
Tim Farron, the former leader of his party, described the Conservatives’ ongoing efforts to deport asylum seekers to the African country as a “complete and total distraction” last night.
Alluding to the £220 million already spent on the scheme, Farron said: “The amount of money the government has wasted on the Rwanda plan so far – so far – is the equivalent to 5.7 million GP appointments.”
He added that the government is treating some of the “most desperate people in the world as political footballs”.
“The Conservative party knows the reason it is using the Rwanda plan is that they think it might shift them a couple of decimal points in the opinion polls,” Farron claimed.
The Tories have been doing exceptionally badly in the opinion polls recently, and reached a record low earlier this month.
Farron continued: “Ask yourself what you would want to happen to you if this country was an unliveable, intolerable basket case?”
The MP admitted “we have got a problem” with migration in the UK – but pointed out 17 European countries take more asylum seekers per head than we do.
He noted: “If we actually had a government that was competent enough to deal with the backlog and then remove those people who are not asylum seekers, that would be a deterrent.”
Farron said the whole idea “is a complete and total distraction”.
He claimed: “It won’t work, it is wasting your money – 0.2% of all the asylum seekers in the country will go to Rwanda. As if that is a deterrent!”
Novelist Philippa Gregory, also sat on the panel, echoed this criticism of the Tories, alluding to ongoing concerns around Rwanda’s safety.
She said sarcastically: “We know Rwanda is a safe place because the Conservative government has declared it a safe place, just as we now know June is spring.”
The government originally said flights taking people to Rwanda would take off in spring – that deadline has now been pushed back.
She continued: “This is not a sensible plan.
“It’s an incredibly reckless plan because it’s dealing with one of the most important issues that we’re going to have to face not just this year but 10 years from now.
“What do you think climate change is going to be doing to these already very poor countries?”
The audience were also furious about the scheme last night, with one member asking people who support it: “Where is your humanity – because these people are desperate?”
She added that “vilifying charities that help these people is sick and twisted”.