Labour MP Alex Norris faced a fiery GB News grilling after claiming that People’s Channel viewers “didn’t see Rwanda as a deterrent” for the migrant crisis.
Speaking to GB News, the Home Office Minister defended the Labour Government’s “one in, one out” scheme and claimed “tens of thousands of people” crossed into Britain during the Rwanda plan.
As host Nana Akua pressed Mr Norris on Rwanda’s plan to “sue” the Government over the failed agreement despite it being an “effective deterrent”, the Labour MP argued: “Nana, I don’t think your viewers are sat at home thinking Rwanda was an effective deterrent.”
She interjected Mr Norris, hitting back: “You don’t know what they’re thinking.”
He then responded: “Well, indeed, but that’s why we’re having this conversation. My point would be that between that deal being signed and that deal being ended, more than 80,000 people crossed.
“So the idea that that was a deterrent, we spent £700million of public money to send back four volunteers.”
Nana interjected again, highlighting: “Well, you’re going to spend another £50million because you didn’t sign it off properly?”
Mr Norris told GB News: “And we’re contesting that, we don’t believe that’s right. We, as always, will be working with the British taxpayers best interests at heart. So we are opposing that. We disagree with that and we don’t want to be spending that money.”
Labour minister Alex Norris was skewered by Nana Akua and Eamonn Holmes over Keir Starmer’s approach to illegal migration
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Weighing in on the debate, Eamonn Holmes offered his scathing assessment of Mr Norris’s claim about GB News viewers: “Alex, it is fascinating listening to you and hearing a different point of view.
“You say you don’t think our viewers would be sitting at home thinking Rwanda was an effective deterrent or whatever.
“Well I have to say to you, my friend, they do think that, they did think that. They really thought and they missed it not being implemented. They were very angry that it wasn’t implemented.”
He stated: “I’m not saying that it would have succeeded or anything else, but the feeling from people out there was they wanted something done, something strong, and they thought Rwanda was it.”
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Mr Norris responded: “And the point I’d make, because I know your viewers are intelligent and well-read, and they look at the evidence, they would know that it just didn’t work in that way, that actually tens and tens of thousands of people crossed because they thought there was no danger of going back to Rwanda.
“We’ve made significant increases in the number of people removed from this country because they have no right to be here, that’s a much more effective deterrent. Similarly, the view of Britain has always been ‘come to Britain, you’ll be able to work illegally, you’ll be able to live in a hotel’.
“Well, we’re changing that as well, those are real deterrents. So I appreciate people want to see that change and they’re impatient for it.”
Taking aim at Labour’s “one in, one out” scheme, Eamonn told the MP: “When you talk about deterrents and you look at this one in, one out policy with France that everybody said from the start, look, this is a lot of rubbish, this is going to work, it ain’t going to happen.
Mr Norris told GB News that Keir Starmer’s agreement with China is ‘exciting’
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“And do you know what my friend, it has not. You can’t say that that is working or that that is a deterrent?”
Defending the Government again, Mr Norris left Eamonn and Nana in disbelief as he said: “Again, I disagree with that. I’m always so keen to come on the show, and I’m grateful that you always put me on and I’ll always want to have those conversations with you and with your viewers.
“This was a pilot. It was always small numbers, but designed to prove that you can operationalise between two neighbours a system where people who come in ways they’re not supposed to can be returned. We are demonstrating that it’s not finished yet, but we are demonstrating that that’s possible.
“That’s something we want to build out from, but it sits within removals of more than 50,000 people since we took office. So there are many ways to do it, of which a one in, one out deal is an important one.”
