Yes won by a 16-point margin, but this was less a vote of confidence in the original Rwanda arrangement than a demand for some form of offshore deterrence. The wording itself muddied the waters: one voter who backed Yes said, “I did not mean to vote yes”, believing the ballot meant opposition to the scheme.
The winning side's case was practical and expansive: make arrival less attractive, process claims elsewhere and remove people swiftly. The floor's most-respected Yes argument proposed fingerprinting and DNA records “to make it easier to identify” people later, while another insisted, “We need as many deterrents as possible.”
No voters made a more concentrated case against this particular vehicle. One of the side's highest-rated arguments said the scheme “never did what it was supposed to do”, while another pointed to “hundreds of millions” spent on something that “never actually sent anyone to Rwanda”. The two sides talked past each other: Yes treated non-operation as an untested proposition; No treated it as evidence of failure.
The sharper alternative offered here was not simply to leave the boats alone, but to improve enforcement and rebuild European cooperation. The floor's strongest No case called Rwanda “an expensive substitute for the Dublin Agreement” and urged restoring access to EURODAC, while several Yes voters wanted a revised third-country scheme with fewer legal obstacles and faster removals.
The result was a mandate to reconsider the idea, not a settled design for carrying it out: the room agreed more readily on deterrence than on destination, method or price.
44 Opinions
For me its a No, the scheme with Rwanda never did what it was supposed to do, it didn't deter the crossings. The current scheme if expanded with EU co-operation can be even more effective, as it is the scheme with France is still better in numbers. EU co-operation would make it more cost effective for the UK.
Didn't get implemented properly or used, and a better idea would be to stop the level of arrivals rather than find ways of making illegals leave, yes something needs doing but not this
We should also DNA and fingerprint every immigrant and asylum seeker, to make it easier to identify if they return after being kicked out (or if they commit a crime whilst here)
Or a similar scheme. Maybe with their home country!!
Civil Service either makes disastrous decisions with zero responsibility or forever kicks the can down the road to avoid making the correct decision. For those moaning about the cost please focus the £82Billion that we pay to fund those the Labour Party has intentionally imported to gerrymander our electoral system. If these chancers are not given fully fitted houses food pocket money etc they will stop. Ban Halal & deport & Rwanda is a tool, a short term reset as was planned
The Rwanda scheme is just an expensive substitute for the Dublin Agreement. Brexiteers need to accept that the choice they made created this situation. Instead of complaining, we should focus on rebuilding cooperation with Europe and restoring access to EURODAC, so we can process claims faster, support those who genuinely need protection, and swiftly remove those who don’t.
The priority should be to stop the crossings but close behind that should be an instant removal scheme where people are taken to somewhere like Rwanda until their identity is confirmed and their claim for asylum processed. If the claim is rejected and they appeal, they should stay in Rwanda until their appeals are complete.
We spent hundreds of millions on a scheme that never actually sent anyone to Rwanda. The money would be better spent on stopping the crossings and dealing with asylum claims more quickly.
We need as many deterrents as possible. A complete ban on anyone entering illegally ever being given the right to stay, with swift deportation and offshore processing and detention are measures that would drastically reduce those attempting to enter illegally. Remove any incentive. Until they do measures are doomed to failure.
Yes but I'd prefer total deportation at the Govs cost not mine ! I want em all gone ! Enough !