I share your anger at Rwanda legal wrangle but only a noisy few are against the flights
SUN readers will be dismayed by the Court of Appeal decision to rule against plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda and have their claims processed there.
Each month, thousands attempt the illegal and dangerous crossing of the Channel from the safety of France, and you rightly expect the Government will act to stop this.
Last year, the High Court ruled in favour of the world-leading migration and economic development partnership I set up with Rwanda.
And after the European Court of Human Rights blocked the first flight from taking off, I know people were getting fed up with the legal wranglings.
When I announced the partnership last spring, I knew we’d face relentless legal challenges from those who oppose plans to stop the crossings.
So I am not surprised that this will now be going to the Supreme Court.
Whatever the outcome was in the Court of Appeal, it was always going to be challenged further.
I share your anger that these processes are taking such a long time to conclude.
That’s why I’ve always advocated the need to reform our courts and legal processes, and make changes to the human rights laws that are open to abuse.
The policy is the right thing and people do not have any grounds for concern with it.
The partnership with Rwanda contained guarantees on the treatment of asylum seekers and opportunities for them to receive protections and start a new life there.
I agreed those arrangements with the Government of Rwanda and those who have cast doubt on them are wrong to do so.
Even the Court of Appeal in their decision recognised the importance of the guarantees, noting that judges were “unanimous in accepting the assurances given by the Rwandan government were made in good faith”.
Moreover, within the 161-page judgment, most grounds being sought to stop the Rwanda partnership were dismissed.
When I stood down as Home Secretary last September, the Rwanda partnership was part of a wide range of measures and investments I’d put in place to tackle illegal migration.
This included measures in the Nationality and Borders Act to streamline the asylum process, stop the never-ending and spurious claims some were making and prevent claims being made by people who enter the UK illegally.
I had also developed plans for Greek-style reception centres and new detention facilities for those breaking the law.
They would have helped process those who arrive more quickly, facilitated prompt removals with operational plans in place for flights to Rwanda, and deterred people from coming to the UK.
I also secured a returns agreement with Albania, so Albanians entering the UK and claiming asylum could be sent back.
All of those plans, along with the Rwanda partnership, need implementing in full and at pace by the Government.
While most of the public back them, and opinion polls consistently show support for the Rwanda partnership, there is a minority who oppose it.
Those naysayers and left- wingers have sought to smear Rwanda and make unfounded claims about this policy.
Some campaign groups and human rights lawyers milking the legal aid system have shown no interest in tackling challenges caused by the number of asylum seekers coming here, and the vile activities of the evil criminal gangs who smuggle them into the UK.
These are the same people who campaign to stop us deporting foreign national offenders.
They try every trick in the book to frustrate the sensible and common-sense immigration policies the public want put in place.
We know that a Labour Government would work with them to unpick our immigration laws, remove border controls and leave our country vulnerable.
They cannot be trusted with our borders, safety and security.
That is why it is so important Sun readers and the public never give them the chance to run our country.
While those who oppose asylum system reforms offer no solutions, I am proud of the investment and measures I put in place to tackle these gangs and prevent illegal crossings.
We’ve seen prosecutions, assets from criminal gangs seized and crossing attempts stopped as a result of that work.
More needs to be done and the Government must continue to defend and implement these policies, which I know Sun readers and Britain’s hard-working, law-abiding majority want to see succeed.