Giles Watling MP is to support the Government on the Rwanda Bill as a “cautious and critical friend”.
Giles Watling MP, Member of Parliament for Clacton, has released the following statement ahead of the vote on Tuesday 12th December on the Government’s Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill. This Bill seeks to resolve the issues raised by the Supreme Court on the legality of deporting illegal migrants to Rwanda.
“The great goal here is to put these evil people traffickers, traders of human misery, out of business. I have said, from the outset, I support the Rwanda plan. Australia proved in the 1990’s that sending those who enter illegally to Nauru acted as a great deterrent because it disrupted this criminal and evil business model.
We are one of the most generous nations in the world when it comes to asylum seekers – fact. But we can only afford to remain so if we properly control our borders and stop the boats.
The Government seeks to address the Court’s concerns. The Court was not critical of the principal but rather the material of using the country of Rwanda. The Government Bill seeks to resolve this, and I will vote with the Government.
However, I make two significant points that I have raised with the Chief Whip today.
Firstly, the Government is unwise to put all our eggs in one basket. I’ve said for months now that the Home Office has handled this situation terribly. We need boots on the ground and ships at sea to prevent the take-off and arrival of these small boats from occurring in the first place. So, whilst I back the Rwanda plan as a part of a deterrent, I also see the vital need for prevention. Therefore, I reiterate my call to take this issue away from the Home Office as a matter of processing and given to the Ministry of Defence as a matter of border security. I favour this twin-track approach, rather than just hoping this bill, and increasing sums of money, fix the whole thing.
The second point I would make to my Party leadership is this: the Government is becoming defined by this single issue. My constituents in Clacton want the boats stopped but they also want inflation to continue to fall; they need interest rates to come down so bankers don’t profit from recent issues; and, whilst Clacton businesses welcome the support in the Budget, they still need Corporation Tax to fall. We need to return a laser-like focus of a low-tax Conservative economy. Without this, we cannot fund the vital public services we need, including the very departments dealing with the boats issue.”