According to the Home Office’s most recent transparency statistics, Mr. Cleverly boarded the aircraft in December of last year on his way to Kigali, Rwanda, to sign a new agreement about the government’s deportation strategy for asylum seekers.
The cost of the trip has come to light as the government and the House of Lords continue to battle for the government’s Rwanda plan to become law. The UK Supreme Court declared last year that the policy, which would have seen anyone entering the nation illegally deported, was “unlawful” since it put asylum seekers at “real risk” of being returned to their home countries. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, however, devised a plan to bring the program back to life, which included signing a new treaty to formalize Rwanda’s promises for the security of individuals who were deported there.
When the law reached the Commons, Cameron was met with opposition from inside his own party. While some in the more centrist Tories felt it went too far, many on the right wanted to make the legislation more stringent.
Even though he prevailed in that fight, Mr. Sunak is now at odds with his peers because they want to change the law before approving it.
