Vicious critics hate Patel for having grit to fix asylum crisis

IT WAS ONE of the most electric moments of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.

- Leo McKinstry

In October 1981, as her ratings plummeted and her Government ran into severe trouble over rising unemployment, spending cuts, inner city riots and turmoil in Northern Ireland, she told her critics at the annual Tory conference that there would be no U-turn on policy. “You turn if you want to; the Lady’s not for turning.” With those words, she confirmed that she was a leader of unusual resolution

This week, the House of Commons provided the setting for another stirring display of toughness by a senior female politician, as the Home Secretary Priti Patel valiantly defended her controversial new plan to send some illegal migrants to the African republic of Rwanda, particularly those who have reached Britain by the criminal trafficking route across the Channel. Her statement was somewhat overshadowed in the news coverage by the continuing row over Partygate, centred on the Prime Minister’s apology to the House, but Patel’s performance at the Despatch Box was formidable, combining eloquent self-confidence with a mastery of the details of her innovative partnership with Rwanda.