Labour targets Rwanda scheme with vote by MPs on publication of documents showing costs | Politics News
MPs will vote tonight on whether the government should release documents showing how much the Rwanda deportation scheme will cost.
Labour has tabled the motion in the House of Commons. It is happening as part of an opposition day, where parties aside from the government can decide what MPs do in the chamber.
Sky News understands it is unlikely the vote will be successful.
Politics latest: David Cameron faces questions from MPs
Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge
Sky News Monday to Thursday at 7pm.
Watch live on Sky channel 501, Freeview 233, Virgin 602, the Sky News website and app or YouTube.
Tap here for more
The government’s third attempt to get the Rwanda scheme off the ground is currently going through parliament.
Rishi Sunak is having to face off against anger from the right of his party – who think it is not tough enough – and the opposition from Labour, the Lib Dems and SNP.
Today’s vote will ask for a list of all payments made or scheduled to the Rwandan government over the first five years of the plan.
It will also ask for documents relating to the per-person cost of sending people to Rwanda, as well as an unredacted copy of the confidential memorandum of understanding between the UK and the east African nation.
Labour also wants the government to reveal the reasons behind the 35,119 “non-substantive” decisions made as part of the attempts to clear the legacy backlog of asylum seekers.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Rwanda: PM avoids damaging defeat
There is not an exact time for when the vote will take place, but it will be this afternoon before 7pm.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the government’s refusal to “come clean” on the cost of the Rwanda scheme was “totally unacceptable”.
“The Conservatives should stop dragging out this chaos and come clean about the real costs and problems,” Ms Cooper said.
“So far costs are apparently rising to Ā£400m of taxpayers’ money, with more home secretaries than asylum seekers sent to Kigali, and it is only likely to cover less than 1% of those arriving in the UK.”
Sky News reported over the weekend on leaked documents which showed Mr Sunak apparently did not think the Rwanda policy would work when he was chancellor – although the prime minister has denied this.
Click to subscribe to Politics at Jack and Sam’s wherever you get your podcasts
A campaign insider also told Sky News that the now prime minister wanted to ditch the scheme when he was running for the leadership of the party – “until he was persuaded otherwise”.
Mr Sunak said on Monday that he “didn’t say I was going to scrap it”. He added: “I mean that’s completely false. Of course I didn’t.”
But the prime minister did not deny that he previously held reservations about the controversial plan.
