HE may not have got any planes away before calling an election, but sending more failed asylum seekers individually to Rwanda this week is some welcome news for Rishi Sunak. Rwanda remains the only credible plan to tackle the small boats crisis. Proof that it is having a deterrent effect is in the thousands of migrants now desperately trying to get into Ireland — and the safety of EU rules — to escape the threat of deportation to Africa .
Other countries are queuing up to follow Britain’s lead as migration threatens to destabilise Europe and America . Labour, of course, has pledged to scrap it on day one, regardless of any outcome. But the public is aghast at the failure to control our borders properly.
Without the Rwanda plan the alternative effectively becomes an open border policy where anyone with a claim, however spurious, is allowed in. Sir Keir Starmer is right that more needs to be done to bring down the vile people-smuggling gangs profiting from human misery. But solutions also need to be found to stop migrants wanting to risk their lives to get to Britain in the first place.
Who will come up with them? DEVASTATING pub closures are pushing the trade to the brink. With 80 a month going to the wall it won’t be long before they become nothing more than a fond memory. What a tragic loss that would be.
As well as pints for punters, many serve an important role in their communities. They provide a lifeline for older people, many of whom live alone. And a good.
