Labour to hand amnesty to 90,000 illegal migrants due to be sent to Rwanda

LABOUR was last night accused of handing an "amnesty" to 90,000 illegal migrants after scrapping the Rwanda scheme.

- Martyn Brown

Top Tory James Cleverly hit out at Yvette Cooper his successor as Home Secretary - as she announced the deterrent had been ditched.

Ms Cooper told MPs she would reverse part of former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Illegal Migration Act.

The legislation has barred anyone arriving in the UK illegally since March 2023 from being granted asylum, with these people having earmarked for removal to the east African nation.

The Refugee Council estimates that between 60,000 and 90,000 people will now be granted asylum, because of Labour's change despite having entered the country illegally.

Writing in the Daily Express, Mr Cleverly warned that Britain is "sleepwalking into a nightmare of small boat crossings this summer".

He claimed the crisis has already got worse since Labour came to power this month.

Official figures show that nearly 1,500 migrants have arrived in the UK on small boats across the Channel in the past week. Mr Cleverly insisted: "Labour has started the long march back to the European Union, with a migration deal the first thing on the table.

"The last thing hard-working Brits need is more migrants." Mr Cleverly said the previous Tory Government made it clear illegal migrants would not be allowed to stay.

He added: "Yvette Cooper has undermined this already by announcing an effective amnesty for 90,000 illegal arrivals. This has already made Britain a magnet for migrants the world over."