Priti Patel (PA)
A Labour shadow minister has torched Priti Patel over her “unworkable” asylum plans.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Thangam Debbonaire hit out at the government’s controversial scheme which will see migrants arriving in the UK dispatched to Rwanda.
Debbonaire, the shadow Leader of the House, told MPs: “The term illegal asylum seekers doesn’t even make sense as by international law asylum seekers are allowed to come here to seek asylum.
“If they haven’t been assessed, they can’t be illegal by definition.”
In response, Leader of the House Mark Spencer replied: “This is a new migration and economic development partnership, the first in the world to tackle head-on the imbalance between legal and illegal migration routes.
“It is the right thing to do, because it breaks the model set by those who are exploiting very vulnerable people, and endangering them by putting them in vessels that are not seaworthy to cross the English channel.
“We are developing safe routes for the people who do find themselves in those circumstances, and that is the right thing to do.”
Watch the exchange before.
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