‘Everyone in cabinet’ knew the Rwanda deportation bill would not work, according to Conservative leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick.
Speaking to the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge, the former Home Office minister implied that every senior government minister in the last administration didn’t think the plans to send asylum seekers to Kigali would work.
Mr Jenrick resigned from Rishi Sunak’s government at the end of 2023, saying he did not believe the plans went far enough.
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Speaking to Sky News, Mr Jenrick explained why he left government: “There was a choice for me at the time: take a bill through parliament which I knew didn’t work and which, frankly, everyone in cabinet knew didn’t work; or leave the government and make the case in parliament, where I was honest with myself and with the public.”
Asked to confirm if he thought everyone in the cabinet – which includes the prime minister, home secretary and all senior ministers – thought the Rwanda Bill would not work, he said: “I think everybody involved in that decision knew perfectly well that that policy was not going to succeed, but they turned a blind eye to it.
“I wasn’t willing to be a minister like that.”
Mr Jenrick would not give specific names of who in cabinet – aside from himself – did not think the plans would work.
He has said he wants a legally enforced cap on migration, and also to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
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Mickey Mouse mural
Sophy Ridge also asked Mr Jenrick about one of the most controversial moments of his time in the Home Office – when he ordered a mural of Mickey Mouse at a reception centre for young asylum seekers be painted over.
During the leadership race he has said he would not do the same thing again – but he has so far refused to apologise.
“I would never want to do anything that was anything other than compassionate towards children,” he said.
“When I was a minister responsible for immigration, I did a lot to try and ensure that we were looking after unaccompanied children properly.
“When I came into office, we were housing them in rudimentary hotels in seaside towns. [We] closed them down and got those young people into foster care and more appropriate accommodation.”
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Mr Jenrick says he was concerned about “a large number of adults” entering the UK and posing as children – “placing actual children” in “real danger”.
Jobs for the old rivals
Another topic touched on in the in interview was whether Mr Jenrick would give other MPs who wanted to be leader a job in his shadow cabinet, should he win.
“I want to get the best players on to the pitch,” Mr Jenrick said.
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He added that the other member of the final two, Kemi Badenoch, “should get a senior position in which she can play a full part in restoring and renewing the Conservative Party”.
And James Cleverly, who came third, would be welcome to serve as Mr Jenrick’s deputy if he wishes, as he’s “a unifying presence”.