The former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, said he believes the Rwanda scheme was fundamentally flawed because the Conservatives were not willing to leave the ECHR.

Speaking on GB News Kwasi Kwarteng said:

“The issue is since 2018 [migration] has got out of hand.

“I think the absolute numbers are lower than they were 15 years ago. But optically, seeing people on dinghies being trafficked in dangerous conditions and then arriving in Britain without any ID is unacceptable.

“People say, look, the gangs, the traffickers, are benefiting. And that’s why the Rwanda scheme, which I supported, was a very clear deterrent for people not to come to this country. It was beginning to work.

“The issue that I think was a fundamental issue with the Conservative Party was that if we weren’t willing to leave the ECHR and put that on the table, it was obvious that the scheme at some point would fall down, because they would simply appeal to the ECHR with individual claims, and the ECHR would have just waved them through. So that was the weakness.

“The issue I think that they’re missing in this government is the fact that the system was being abused. I think a large number of the people who were coming on the boats weren’t legitimate asylum seekers

“There has to be an element of deterrent in this system and the Rwanda scheme was a deterrent. It clearly was that and there were reports of people going to Ireland because they feared being deported. And it was effective in that.”