Illegal Migration Minister gets vexed when pressed on who will be sent to Rwanda
Illegal Migration Minister Michael Tomlinson clashed with a presenter this morning in an excruciating interview when he was pressed for details of the Government’s Rwanda Bill, after it was passed through last night.
Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill was passed into law in the early hours of Tuesday morning having been fiercely criticised in and out of Parliament, with Tory Minister Tomlinson on the media rounds to defend the bill.
Not a stranger to car crash interviews, Tomlinson led a heated exchange with Mishal Husain on the BBC Today programme in a painful interview after the Tory minister was pushed for more information on who will be eligible to be sent to Rwanda.
When asked by Husain whether victims of torture can still be removed for deportation to Rwanda, Tomlinson replied, “Rwanda is a safe country and yes it will be possible to remove those to Rwanda.”
Husain replied: “Understood so any victim of torture no point in applying on that basis, victim of trafficking?”
Tomlinson hit back: “Oh, Rwanda is a safe country Mishal, you could go through a whole raft of this..”
Husain attempted to clarify the question to the minister, by which point they were talking over each other.
A vexed Tomlinson went on: “This is rather frustrating, you could ask me a series of questions, could you do this challenge, could you do that, you could ask me an infinite number of challenges you could say well here’s the handbook of all the possible..”
Husain interjects, “I’m asking for clarity”, to which Tomlinson hits back “well you’re not going to get that clarity because the act hasn’t yet come into force”.
Human rights charities including Freedom from Torture, Amnesty International and Liberty have slammed the “shameful” bill, saying that it will put torture survivors and other refugees “at risk of an unsafe future”.
Lawyers have said they will prepare legal challenges on behalf of individual asylum seekers who can challenge their removal on a case-by-case basis. Tory MPs rejected a string of demands in the Lords for amendments to the bill.
Husain said to Tomlinson: “You’re trying to stop the legal challenges aren’t you, for example that’s why a lawyer could say ‘well if my client is a victim of torture there’s no point applying on that basis because that doesn’t rule them out’. Whatever physical or mental state they’re in, they are still eligible to be on a plane to Rwanda.”
“Mishal respectfully, I think regardless of what I say there is likely to be legal challenges,” replied Tomlinson.
“That’s not my question.. it’s about what under this law rules them out.. It’s about how you’re going to use this law, because you’ve got it now”.
“It’s not your question but it’s my answer,” said Tomlinson. “There will be legal challenges Mishal, you’re absolutely right, I’m not going to go through line-by-line of the ins and outs of the possibilities of all the legal challenges there could be.. we will meet them and the planes will take off.”
His tone of response and deflection received despair online while the presenter was praised for her handling of the interview.
Migration expert Zoe Gardner wrote on X: “Absolutely desperate interview with Michael Tomlinson refusing to answer questions on whether victims of torture & survivors of slavery & trafficking can be sent to Rwanda.
“The answer, in both cases, is yes. Yes to Afghans. Yes to children. Yes to refugees of all kinds.”
Politics JOE journalist Ava Santina commented on X: “Government Minister Michael Tomlinson says if a person has been a victim of torture, they will still be eligible for deportation. Happy St George’s Day.”
Writer Tom Scott wrote: “Attorney General Michael Tomlinson’s refusal to address the cruel impacts of the #RwandaBill reminds me of Brexiters’ refusal to address the predictable economic impacts of Brexit in 2016 (Tomlinson is an ardent Brexiter).
“Magical thinking often has dire consequences.”
(Image credit: YouTube screenshot / Sky News)
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues
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