Extremist events ‘might develop into extra fashionable if Labour scrap Rwanda’

A soft approach on immigration by Labour could trigger the rise of ‘extremist’ parties as seen across Europe, James Cleverly warned yesterday.

The Home Secretary said that the Labour pledge to scrap the Rwanda deportation scheme would end hopes of putting in place a ‘deterrent’ to crossing the Channel illegally.

It comes as populist parties on the Continent have seen a surge in support in response to rising public concern about the impact of immigration, including in France where president Emmanuel Macron faces humiliation at the hands of Marine Le Pen‘s hard-Right National Rally after a gamble on a snap election backfired.

Mr Cleverly said the evidence from around the world was that ‘if governments don’t get a grip of immigration… there is a risk that extremist parties take advantage of the disquiet’.

He told GB News: ‘I worry that when Labour, not if, when Labour fall short on this issue, the anger of the British people could erupt in a whole load of different ways. That is why it’s so important that people think very carefully about how they vote on July 4.’

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to ‘smash the gangs’ smuggling migrants across the Channel.

But Mr Cleverly said most of the measures being suggested by Labour were already being done. And he said Labour had no alternative deterrent scheme – and no clear plan for dealing with a backlog of up to 100,000 migrants who currently have no right to claim asylum in this country.

‘He’s going to scrap the Rwanda scheme,’ Mr Cleverly said.

‘There are big policy announcements of the creation of two new Home Office units, a border command and returns unit. They both already exist. They’re already existing in the Home Office.

‘So Labour are basically saying they are going to do less and somehow achieve more. It’s like having an immigration policy where you’re praying for rain.

‘You have to actually have a plan. We have a plan. Labour do not.’

For its part, Labour has accused the Conservatives of ‘losing control’ of the UK’s borders. 

Sir Keir yesterday acknowledged a Labour government would have to stave off the populist Right but said he would move to restore faith in politics through ‘deeds, not words’.

Asked how he would prevent the Hard Right topping the polls, as they have in France this week, he told reporters: ‘The lesson I take from that is that we need to address the everyday concerns of so many people in this country who feel disaffected by politics, who feel that either the country is too broken to be mended or that they can’t trust politicians.

‘We have to take that head on and we have to show, on Thursday for the United Kingdom, and across Europe and the world, that only progressives have the answers to the challenges that are facing us in this country and across Europe.’

Sir Keir said he was ready to work with Ms Le Pen on tackling the Channel migrant crisis if her party emerges from the current elections as the dominant force, putting her in prime position to topple Mr Macron as president when the time comes.

‘I will work with any government in Europe and across the world if we are elected in to serve the country,’ Sir Keir said. 

‘For me, that’s what serious government is about. So yes, we will work with whoever. I do think it is important that we make the progressive case to meet the challenges that we face across Europe and across the world.’

But Rishi Sunak said the Labour leader would make the UK the ‘soft touch of Europe’ on illegal migration.

Challenged over his claim that migrants in Calais are waiting for a Labour government before making the crossing, Mr Sunak told reporters: ‘That’s what the illegal migrants themselves in Calais are saying.

‘They know Rwanda is not somewhere they would like to go, it is a deterrent.. It’s very simple – I don’t think illegal migrants should get to stay in our country.’