"You’re trying to side-track me and I’m not going to let you"

Minister of State for Illegal Migration Michael Tomlinson made a series of media rounds this morning in which he attempted to reject Tory chaos over the Rwanda policy and insisted the Bill would pass, despite Party rebels.  

However his appearances have since been labelled a car crash, from his justifications of the Rwanda policy to his claims at being a football supporter.

Both Kay Burley on Sky News and Mishal Husain on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme pulled the immigration minister apart over his comparison of the Rwanda treaty to the UK-Albania agreement on migration.  

Attempting to argue the effectiveness of the Government’s Rwanda plan, Tomlinson got called out for playing out of the Tory political playbook.  

Tomlinson said of the Rwanda plan: “The deterrent effect will work, let me give you an example. Albania, the government secured a deal with Albania 12 months ago.”

To which Burley gave a scathing reply: “We know, 95% down, I know, Labour doesn’t have a plan, I know, you guys tell me this everyday. The point is, if 29 Tory MPs vote against, this bill it’s done.”

However he continued to use Albania as a comparison, to which Burley responds: “It has nothing to do with Rwanda, it is about a deal you did with Albania, you’re trying to side-track me and I’m not going to let you.”

Over on Radio 4 Today, Tomlinson got schooled on his use of language which left him stumbling over his words, after he stated the Prime Minister “would not let a foreign court get in the way of this Rwanda policy”.

Presenter Mishal Husain replied: “You know it’s not a foreign court.”

“Well you know, the Strasbourg Court, the European Court of Human Rights, the rule 39s you’ve just been talking about,” responded Tomlinson.

“It’s an international court, foreign means it belongs to another country, what other country does it belong to?” asked Husain.

“Well it’s a court that’s based in Strasbourg” attempted Tomlinson.

“It’s an international court not a French court though is it,” to which Tomlinson failed to produce a response.

His appearances were rinsed online by viewers sharing their scathing thoughts on how the immigration minister came across.

Former Tory MP, Anna Sourbry said on X: “Please watch all the clips of Michael Tomlinson being interviewed by @KayBurley& @MishalHusain. Compared to the rest he’s one of the better Ministers – yes that’s how bad things are. We cannot go on like this. Come the GE be sure to vote them out of office”

Another X user wrote: “Mishal Husain delivered an excellent interview cutting through Michael Tomlinson’s drivelling nonsense. He came on #r4today to rationalise the obscene into the palatable but his inability to speak abt the Rwanda Scheme w/ poise is an indication of his party’s abject desperation.”

Whilst one X user summarised: “If you think Danny Kruger is an out of touch posh Tory twat, listen to Michael Tomlinson doing the media rounds today. He’s worse.”

However the most ridiculed part of his morning it seems came at the end of his interview with Kay Burley, in what has been called a “painful exchange”, when Tomlinson told the presenter to ask him about sport, before forgetting which football team he supports. He went on to say that “lots of goals were scored”, at a match with a 1:1 draw.

(Image credit: Sky News / Screenshot)

Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues

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