LONDON: Britain’s newly elected Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday said he was “not prepared” to continue with the previous Conservative government’s controversial scheme to deport migrants to Rwanda, labeling it as ineffective and impractical.
“The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started… I’m not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don’t act as a deterrent,” Starmer said during his first news conference.
The Rwanda deportation plan, a flagship policy of the Conservative government aimed at curbing illegal crossings of the English Channel, faced vehement opposition from human rights groups and legal challenges.
Former-prime minister Rishi Sunak has staked his political reputation on his plan to “stop the boats”, pushing the controversial deportation plan despite opposition from rights groups and judicial rulings.
Starmer, who campaigned against the policy during the Labour Party’s landslide electoral victory, reaffirmed his commitment to tackling immigration issues upstream by targeting the criminal networks facilitating illegal crossings.
Central to Starmer’s strategy is the establishment of an “elite” Border Security Command, integrating immigration enforcement with resources from law enforcement agencies and MI5, the domestic intelligence service. This approach marks a shift towards addressing the root causes of illegal migration rather than punitive measures against migrants themselves.
The announcement comes amid escalating numbers of migrants crossing the English Channel, with approximately 12,313 arrivals recorded so far this year, marking an 18 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to the UK Home Office.
In his address to the newly appointed cabinet, which includes notable figures such as Rachel Reeves as the first woman finance minister and David Lammy as the foreign minister, Starmer emphasized the urgency of the government’s mandate following their electoral triumph.
“It has been the honour and the privilege of my life to be invited by King Charles III to form the government. We have a huge amount of work ahead of us, and we must begin immediately,” Starmer stated. He outlined his administration’s priorities to rebuild the nation’s economy, strengthen public services, and address the ongoing cost-of-living crisis affecting households.
“Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while,” Starmer said.
