On what planet is our prime minister living (Rishi Sunak to bring in emergency law after supreme court’s Rwanda ruling, 15 November)? Having failed miserably to get his odious Rwanda policy through the courts, he now plans to introduce “emergency legislation” to declare that Rwanda is a safe country.
Even if this were legally possible, how can the UK possibly monitor this? How could we ensure in practice that Rwanda meets its international obligations towards refugees, so that our own new law actually works in reality, especially as the supreme court makes it clear that Rwanda is currently a long way from being a safe country? It’s completely unworkable.
This is fairytale politics. All Rishi Sunak has done with his ill-considered, panic-stricken response to the court ruling is to give us a further demonstration of his absolute desperation and his appalling judgment.
Clive Hurren
Conwy
The problem with Rishi Sunak’s plan to pass a law declaring Rwanda to be safe is that a law cannot make a fact otherwise. The supreme court gave good reasons why Rwanda was not a safe destination, and this fact will not be changed by any UK law. Nor will it be possible to prevent the European court of human rights from stopping deportation flights, unless the UK withdraws from the treaty that set it up.
Ultimately, the boats cannot be stopped without changes in the countries that asylum seekers come from, except by action that would damage Britain’s international standing. That is why I believe it will not happen; nor will refugees be sent to Rwanda before the next election, as the Conservatives promise. A more humane way of treating refugees will have to be found.
Miland Joshi
Birmingham
It is extraordinary that the UK government should base its policy on the expectation that Rwanda will observe its human rights and international legal obligations when the prime minister and many in his party appear willing to implement that policy in disregard of the UK’s similar obligations because they conflict with “the will of the people” (in reality, government policy).
John Eekelaar
Oxford
I can’t believe that James Cleverly called the Rwanda policy “batshit”. Might Yvette Cooper have misheard him? Perhaps he said “fascist”, a term that describes the policy well.
John Stubbs
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Should the banner on Mr Sunak’s podium now read “Stop the bats”?
Philip Arundel
Colwall Green, Herefordshire
As Rishi Sunak has discovered that Rwanda can be made a safe country by an act of parliament, let us hope he will not stop there, and other troubled countries will be similarly pacified. A Nobel peace prize cannot be in doubt when he succeeds.
Ian Barrett
Woking, Surrey
I suggest Rishi Sunak takes one simple step to raise the morale of people in the UK. He should propose a law that declares Britain has a Mediterranean climate.
Stephen Chicken
Swinton, Scottish Borders
The highest court in the land rules that an action is illegal, so our prime minister looks for a way round it. What message is this sending to the rest of us?
Vicky Woodcraft
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
Isn’t passing emergency legislation to declare Rwanda safe for refugees a bit like King Canute passing the No Tides Act?
Dr James Brown
London
In 1897, lawmakers in Indiana tried to pass a law that declared the value of pi to be 3.2. Even if the law had been passed, the value of pi would have remained as 3.1415926535897932384626433…
Catherine Wykes
Derby
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