'NUCLEAR OPTION": BLAIR PLAN TO SEND MIGRANTS TO MULL
Daily Record|December 29, 2023
PM team's camp idea 20 years ago
DAVE BURKE
'NUCLEAR OPTION": BLAIR PLAN TO SEND MIGRANTS TO MULL

TONY Blair's government looked at setting up a camp for asylum seekers on the Isle of Mull, newly released classified papers show.

A document drawn up by the then prime minister's chief of staff Jonathan Powell talked of a "nuclear option" and suggested deporting incomers to nations such as Turkey and Kenya.

When Home Office lawyers warned the plans could fall foul of the Geneva Convention on refugees, Blair scrawled: "Just return them." His handwritten note added: "This is precisely the point.

"We must not allow the [European Convention on Human Rights] to stop us dealing with it."

This story is from the December 29, 2023 edition of Daily Record.

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This story is from the December 29, 2023 edition of Daily Record.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.