Well, well, well. Rishi Sunak’s immigration plans have been met with a fairly underwhelming response in Britain – only a quarter of people believe the Rwanda scheme will work, while the PM has faced some rather public dissent from within his own ranks over his record on small boats. But the Rwanda policy does in fact have some political admirers – in the form of leaders from across the Continent. Finally a piece of good news for the PM…
Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer is the latest European politician to heap praise on Rishi’s Rwanda plan. At a press conference in Vienna this morning, Nehammer hailed Britain as a ‘pioneer’ on migration, telling journalists:
Asylum proceedings should happen in safe third countries. The UK is therefore a pioneer for this model – a model that will be important for Europe as well. The Rwanda model will be a solution for us to have asylum proceedings in safe third countries and that’s something we need to put on the EU’s agenda as well.
On the other hand we will be able to save human lives because having asylum proceedings in safe third countries means that we don’t have dangerous smuggling routes, it means putting an end to death in the Mediterranean or English Channel.
Talk about a sterling review. And Austria isn’t alone in supporting Sunak’s Rwanda policy. As many as 15 European states are on board with the UK’s new way of stopping the boats, Nehammer told reporters today. Elsewhere, the CDU, Germany’s centre-right party – formerly led by Angela Merkel – has also backed Sunak’s plan. Current Christian Democrat leader Friedrich Merz is ‘firmly convinced’ the Rwanda approach will work, adding that it is something his party ‘could emulate’. And Ursula Von Der Leyen, current President of the European Commission who is running for a second term, lent her support to third-country migration deals, proclaiming last week: ‘We Europeans are the ones who decide who comes to the European Union and under what circumstances.’ Quite the vote of confidence…
Will all this overseas support prompt some sheepishness from Sunak’s detractors for slapping down his scheme? Home Secretary James Cleverly is certainly keen to stress to his colleagues and critics that the UK’s Rwanda scheme is closely in line with mainstream European opinion. But though Europe’s leaders are lauding the PM’s policy, and Sunak himself has pointed to Ireland’s migrant woes as proof his plan is working, Mr S would remind readers that as of yet, the new Rwanda policy has not seen a single flight take off…
Comments