Plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is an expensive waste of taxpayers’ money

There are many reasons to object to Rishi Sunak's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. But the one that should make everyone, regardless of their political views, think twice is that it is not going to work. The government is spending hundreds of millions of pounds to send a few hundred people to a faraway country in the hope this will deter tens of thousands of people willing to risk their lives to come here.

The defection of Natalie Elphicke, the MP for Dover who has long campaigned to “stop the boats”, from the Conservatives to Labour suggests she has finally come to the realisation that Sunak’s plan is nonsense and Labour’s strategy – essentially to launch a police crackdown on the people-smuggling gangs – will be more cost-effective, if considerably less eye-catching. “From small boats to biosecurity, Rishi Sunak's government is failing to keep our borders safe and secure,” she said.

When even right-wingers like Elphicke despair of his government, Sunak’s time is surely up. He should call an election and finally allow the country to move on.

Natalie Elphicke's defection from Conservatives to Labour surely means Rishi Sunak's time is up – Scotsman comment

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