Home Office minister denied UK would send refugees to Rwanda just 8 days ago

A Home Office minister denied that the government was planning to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, a mere eight days before Boris Johnson is set to announce it was doing just that.

Asked about the issue on LBC, minister for refugees Lord Richard Harrington inquired whether it was a "rumour" before saying "If it's happening in the Home Office on the same corridor that I'm in they haven't told me about it.

"We're having difficulty enough getting them from Ukraine to our country, there's no possibility of sending them to Rwanda."

Eight days later, the government confirmed there is more than a possibility of sending refugees to the country.

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The agreement with Rwanda will see migrants arriving in the UK “offshored” to the African country while they wait for an asylum decision from the Home Office.

It is understood that the Rwandan government will be paid an initial cost of £120m under the deal, which will be funded by the taxpayer.

The plan has been criticised with Priti Patel's counterpart in the Labour Party Yvette Cooper calling it “unworkable, unethical and extortionate” and even Tory former cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell dubbed it a “British Guantanamo Bay”.

Putting all that to one side, it looks like someone could be a bit more on top of his brief...

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