James Cleverly vows to bring back reviled anti-LGBTQ+ Rwanda scheme if he becomes Tory leader

Former home secretary James Cleverly has vowed to bring back the controversial Rwanda scheme if he becomes the next leader of the Conservative Party.

Cleverly made the pledge at the launch of his leadership bid on Monday (2 September).

“When we deal with illegal migration, I stand by what I have always said: we need to have a deterrent. I will rebuild a relationship so badly damaged by Labour’s arrogant disregard to the diplomatic niceties that bind the world,” the MP for Braintree, in Essex, said.

The Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership was a policy created by the Conservative government under which asylum seekers “illegally” entering the UK would have been sent to the East African country.

The scheme was branded a gimmick and scrapped by Labour just days after Keir Starmer won the general election, with the new prime minister saying it was “dead in the water”. It has reportedly cost taxpayers more £700 million.

The former Conservative government admitted on several occasions that the scheme was dangerous for LGBTQ+ people, saying late last year that they could face “some” discrimination.

The UK government’s travel advice says that homosexuality, while legal in Rwanda, remains “frowned on by many”, adding: “LGBT individuals can experience discrimination and abuse, including from local authorities. There are no specific anti-discrimination laws that protect LGBT individuals.”

Statistics from the community-driven equality index Equaldex revealed that 98.4 per cent of Rwandans do not view homosexuality as justifiable and more than 88 per cent would not want gay neighbours.

Treatment of immigrants in the UK has also been highlighted, and activists who have been through the asylum-seeker process have claimed that abuse is “ever-present.”

Diana-Award-winning LGBTQ+ and human rights activist Joel Mordi said the abuse was “common” while he was seeking asylum, after being forced to flee Nigeria because of his sexuality.

“The shock of being placed in detention was immense,” he said. “I had escaped from a country where my life was at risk, only to be confined in a place that felt no less oppressive. The immigration detention centre was a prison in all but name, and the trauma of my experiences in Nigeria was compounded by the harsh conditions I faced inside.”

Despite this, Cleverly’s campaign team told the BBC that they are determined to see the scheme revived.

Five other Conservative MPs have put themselves forward to replace Rishi Sunak as the party’s leader: Kemi Badenoch, Priti Patel, Mel Stride, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat.

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