The flights to deport migrants from the UK to Rwanda are scheduled to proceed as planned, in spite of legal efforts by lawyers to stop them. A minister today said that the Prince Of Wales intervened astonishingly to prevent the flight.
Brandon Lewis claimed that the Government is determined to push ahead with Tuesday’s first controversial flight to east Africa.
A judge rejected a request by rights activists and leaders of trade unions to stop the flight last week. An appeal is scheduled for tomorrow.
The flights, revealed in April under a £120million deal with the Kagame regime, have faced vocal criticism.
Charles, yesterday’s most well-known critic, drew ire from ministers who felt he should be like the Queen and not speak up on political issues.
The current monarch and the heir to the crown often take a less public line on political issues than the current monarch, including when it comes to environment.
Yesterday the Mail revealed he privately condemned Priti Patel’s Rwanda asylum plan, saying giving Channel migrants a one-way ticket to Africa was ‘appalling’.
Cabinet ministers advised him not to follow the policy. One of them told the Sunday Times that his mother had set the gold standard and it’s that standard that he’ll have to uphold when he’s gone.
“While this type of intervention may be acceptable while he’s Prince of Wales, it will not apply when he’s king.”
Ministers will be bolstering their plans for migrants to Rwanda on one-way tickets, even though Prince Charles has privately called the idea ‘appalling.
Priti Patel, Home Secretary will launch this week an advertisement campaign directed at migrants informing them that they can be sent to Africa if they arrive in the UK.
Northern Ireland Secretary Lewis supported the Government’s decision to send Rwandan migrants as refugees and stated that it wasn’t appropriate for him to respond to rumoured criticisms by the Prince of Wales.
He answered Sky News’ Sophy Ridge Sunday when he was asked whether he personally felt comfortable with this policy.
According to reports that Charles privately called the policy ‘appalling’ Mr Lewis stated: “They’re more than just private comments. They’re rumoured personal comments and it doesn’t make sense for me to comment on someone’s statements without context.
The reality is, this is a policy which will deliver modern slavery to these people smugglers to make sure that they know their crimes will be punished. And saying to people all over the globe, “If your status is refugee, asylum seeker or legal migrant, we want you to be part the UK economy, the UK way to live, which is what it is.”
“We have to make sure that you travel legally in a legal and controlled manner. People who encourage illegal travel are not allowed to be here. We will destroy their business model.”
Priti Patel, Home Secretary will launch this week an advertisement campaign directed at migrants informing them that they can be sent to Africa if they attempt to enter the UK.
This campaign is coming as she faces the second round on a legal battle for grounding the first flight with 31 asylum seekers. It was scheduled to leave Tuesday.
According to The Mail on Sunday, Ms Patel plans to change laws regarding modern slavery in order to prevent Left-wing lawyers from using them to block future deportations.
Additionally, she examines whether to decrease funding to United Nations organizations that take legal action against British governments.
Ms. Patel refused to comment. Ms. Patel is known for being friendly with Prince Charles and frequent visitor Clarence House.
Boris Johnson, Charles’ representative, will also be present at the summit. The sources claim that the relationship between Charles and Boris Johnson is sometimes fraught.
Campaigners fell short in their High Court attempt to stop the first Rwandan flight. Justice Swift decided that Ms Patel could carry out her policies because it was in her’material public interests’. While the Home Secretary was pleased with the outcome, Mr Johnson called it ‘welcome news.
Yesterday Mark Serwotka of the Public and Commercial Services Union brought the case, along with several other migration charities. However, he refused to rule out the possibility that his Border Force staff would boycott the Rwanda Policy.
Brandon Lewis claimed that the Government is determined to push ahead with Tuesday’s first controversial flight to east Africa.
Ms. Patel hopes the campaign will stop the influx of migrants through the Channel. This year, more than 10,000 migrants have made this journey.
Targeted ads in Facebook and Instagram will appear to migrants travelling to Europe. They warn them that they may not be allowed to stay even if the crossing is safe.
Above a photo of an unloaded dinghy parked in front of Dover’s white cliffs, one reads: ‘Arrive illegally here in the UK, and you could leave for Rwanda’.
Another shows a migrant encamped behind a steel fence. He warns that new measures could make it more difficult for him to stay in the UK.
This campaign is designed to refute claims made by traffickers gangs that Rwanda’s arrangement is nothing more than a scare tactic or an empty threat.
Modern Slavery Act 2015 was proposed by Theresa May, before she became Prime Minster. It aimed at addressing what she called the ‘greatest human rights issue of all time’.
This was to assist the approximately 10,000 UK residents who had been deemed to have fallen prey to sex trafficking or labour exploitation, as well as those in domestic servitude.
It has been increasingly used by lawyers to file injunctions against deportation. A third party will review the system’s reforms.
Whitehall sources said that ‘Child Rapists and people who present a threat of national security, and Illegal Migrants who have traveled to the UK to escape persecution have requested modern slavery referrals. These have delayed or prevented their deportation.
It is essential that this system is immediately fixed and is permanently changed. Without drastic reforms, modern slavery’s true victims will suffer from excessive decision-making and a system that favors those who exploit it.
Britain last year gave nearly £80 million to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, which gave evidence during Friday’s court case arguing that the Rwanda scheme failed to meet the required standards of ‘legality and appropriateness’ for transferring asylum seekers from one country to another.
Whitehall sources added that taxpayer money should not be used in order to block government policy.
Ms. Patel explained that evil criminal gangs have been making a profit by illegally crossing small boats. This is our responsibility to educate people on the risks of this journey and to expose the lies being told to vulnerable migrants in the hands of humane people smugglers.
“People must not be confused by our message that Britain is off limits to traffickers”
Charles, who has expressed his views to Ministers in the past, was called the’meddling Prince’. After a decade-long legal battle, Charles published a collection of letters that he wrote to Tony Blair, former Prime Minister, and other government figures in 2015.
Clarence House says Prince Charles is ‘politically neutral’. Sources claim they didn’t recognise the idea that he was having an argument with Prime Minister David Cameron.
Boris hasn’t given the Prince respect he deserves, say Palace insiders amid Rwanda row – after their relations nosedived when PM turned up at Birkhall estate in a ‘distracted and shambolic’ state
Even for Prime Ministers, a visit to the Queen’s private estate of Balmoral is considered a unique privilege – a glimpse into the inner workings of the Royal Family in a more relaxed setting.
However, Boris Johnson’s invitation to the Scottish Highlands in 2019 at the conclusion of Queen Elizabeth’s summer holiday was extremely awkward for all involved.
After Mr Johnson’s meeting at Balmoral, the Prince of Wales extended an invitation to the Prime Minister for him to come visit Birkhall.
But the Prime Minister’s demeanour during the meeting with Prince Charles led to ‘eyebrows being raised’ – courtier code for ‘we are not amused’.
Even for Prime Ministers, a visit to the Queen’s private estate of Balmoral is considered a unique privilege – a glimpse into the inner workings of the Royal Family in a more relaxed setting
According to some reports, Johnson was “distracted” and arrived at the meeting with Carrie Symonds.
The Prince of Wales was able to remain ‘Sphynx-like” throughout. However, courtiers determined that the Prime Minister had shown ‘disrespectful behaviour’ after only being in Downing Street for a few weeks.
“Let’s just state,” said a reliable source, that the Prime Minister wasn’t as focused as one would expect on meeting with Prince Charles.
The Prince of Wales likes to meet all kinds of people, but there was an underlying feeling among his aides that Boris Johnson wasn’t getting the respect he deserved as a high-ranking public figure working hard for the country. It wasn’t like the Prince was making a big deal about it. More the staff did it for him.
“The couple met again the next day, but it was a calamity. They have been able to get along better but have not always been the most close of friends.
The difficulties that have plagued the pair are believed to be rooted in Johnson’s years as Foreign Secretary. Famously, he is a relaxed man about punctuality. He will keep people waiting while ignoring the delays. Prince Charles however cannot tolerate tardiness, which can lead to ‘irritations.
Whitehall sources say the problem has eased the longer Mr Johnson has been in No 10 – if only because Prime Ministers are forced to keep to a strict timetable by rigid diary and strict security considerations.
The two men have become closer through mutual friends.
Source added, “They’re not made from the same cloth.” Both have completely different worldviews. However, they found common ground over time, especially on environmental concerns.
For their part, senior Tory figures enjoy playing the game of ‘guess how Charles would vote if he did’ – with answers tending to range between ‘Liberal Democrat’ and ‘Wet Remainer Tory’.
They were seen last week together at the Guildhall reception that followed the Service of Thanksgiving in the Queen at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Charles and the Prime Minster had a very brief, but pleasant conversation. Charles moved on to meet with the Commonwealth Governors-General.
After meeting the Queen at Balmoral and Mr Johnson, the Prince Of Wales invited the Prime Minister to Birkhall.
According to another source, Boris seems to be realizing that Prince Charles may have weekly audience with him in the near future and should treat him accordingly.
Nobody can doubt the love between the Queen and Mr Johnson, nor the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge.
The Prince and Prime Minister will reunite later this month for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali (Rwanda), where they plan to resettle asylum seekers.
Charles is close-knit and the Home Office policy has been a distraction in a historical first visit from the Royal Family to this country. It joined the Commonwealth on 2009
This itinerary includes visits to environmental projects and a meeting at the church in which 10,000 Tutsis were killed during 1994’s genocide.
But the Prime Minister’s demeanour during the meeting with Prince Charles led to ‘eyebrows being raised’ – courtier code for ‘we are not amused’
According to a source, the Palace would be working to ensure that their Royal Highnesses don’t endorse this controversial plan and do not protest it.
The Prince will host Mr Johnson, having been named next leader of the Commonwealth group in 2018.
Chris Fitzgerald, the deputy private secretary of the Prince of Wales said that next week’s visit would be his second. He will host a reception to honor Heads of Government appointed after the last CHOGM. In addition, he will also host a dinner for heads of Commonwealth delegations.
Charles may also be hosting a private meeting alongside Mr Johnson, but it isn’t known if this will happen. Charles will not surprise anyone who is present at the Palace.
The Government announced its plan for Rwanda in the same week as the Prince showed the first signs that it was displeased with Johnson.
Johnson was said to be ‘distracted’ by Carrie Symonds when he arrived in a state of’shambolic’. He was not ‘clearly focused on the handshake’
In a carefully worded Easter message, the Prince said: ‘Today, millions of people find themselves displaced, wearied by their journey from troubled places, wounded by the past, fearful of the future – and in need of a welcome, of rest, and of kindness.
“I am heartbroken over the sufferings suffered by innocent victims of war, persecution and conflict. Some of these people I’ve met have shared with me their stories of tragic and unimaginable tragedies as they fled their homeland to seek refuge far away from home.
While many saw it as a message of support to families displaced by war in Ukraine, others read it as a subtle riposte to the Government’s Rwanda scheme – despite the Prince’s close relationship with Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Clarence House did not deny reports that the Prince called the refugee plan ‘appalling’. But, Clarence House’s spokesperson stated that no Ministers had been lobbying for the Prince.
We will not know for certain how the leakage of Prince’s views affects the relationship between the Prime Minster and the heir to Throne.