Cleverly Accused Of 'Having A Laugh At Taxpayers' Expense' After £165k Rwanda Flight
The new revelation that James Cleverly spent more than £165,000 on a flight to Rwanda last year launched a wave of backlash across social media.
The home secretary used a private jet for a one-day round trip to Rwanda’s capital of Kigali in December solely to sign a legally-binding deportation deal.
According to the Guardian, Cleverly took members of his private office, a few civil servants, a photographer and a BBC TV crew.
This news comes weeks after it was revealed the government was planning on spending £1.8 million on each of the first 300 asylum seekers it deports to the east African country.
So far the government has flown more home secretaries to Rwanda than any asylum seekers, having sent Cleverly’s predecessors Priti Patel and Suella Braverman – and no refugees.
Thursday’s transparency document revealed his £165,561.53 trip also cost much more than Braverman’s in March 2023, which came in at just over £40,000.
Cleverly’s flight came shortly after the UK’s supreme court said Rwanda was an “unsafe country”, too.
The home secretary said at a news conference in Kigali that it was safe, and his treaty addresses “all of the issues” raised by the supreme judges.
Asked about the flight, a Home Office spokesperson said: “The cost of the asylum system could reach up to £11bn a year by 2026, and we make no apologies for pursuing bold solutions like our partnership with Rwanda to stop the boats and save lives.
“All government spend goes through thorough due diligence to ensure best value for money.”
Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said: “Having clearly decided that committing £600m of taxpayers money to the Rwandan government for just 300 refugees wasn’t insulting enough, the home secretary decided to blow £165,000 on a flight to sign off on the hare-brained scheme.
“This government’s enthusiasm for wasting taxpayers’ money knows no bounds.”
The scheme is facing further difficulties at the moment having faced seven defeats in the House of Lords over the government’s safety of Rwanda bill on Wednesday.
And, even though the bill was hurried through parliament as emergency legislation before Christmas, the government has now delayed it until after Easter.
So, this latest news about Cleverly’s journey to Rwanda did not fly on social media ...
£165K on private jet flights for a one-day PR trip?
— Best for Britain (@BestForBritain) March 22, 2024
Add it to the £20 million of our money the Rwanda scheme has already cost us.
Add it to the eyewatering HALF A BILLION quid the scheme is projected to cost by the National Audit Office.
Full story ???? https://t.co/IFlAiFf2erpic.twitter.com/VhrhCUWvKr
I wouldn’t expect a Foreign Secretary to be given cheap economy plane tickets with three changes and a couple of long stopovers each way but £165,561.53 on private jets for a PR short visit to Rwanda?
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) March 22, 2024
James Cleverly is having a laugh at taxpayers’ expense https://t.co/DqSWj4jGrf
"Nearly half of all families with three or more children were in poverty"; "James Cleverly spent £165,561 chartering a private jet for a one day round trip". This Government has fallen into the abyss. pic.twitter.com/yfof6GUPt2
— Jo Maugham (@JolyonMaugham) March 22, 2024
'[Cleverly] chartered a [£165,000] private jet to make the one-day round trip to [Rwanda]'
— Jason Pedlow ???? (@JasonPedlow) March 22, 2024
£165,000 of YOUR money for ONE LUXURIOUS flight for a shameless Tory.
That could buy a house.
Or feed some of the UK's million starving kids.
Vile man
Vile govt
https://t.co/LKV7Xuov3R
Good morning and welcome to the land where ministers continue to splash extortionate amounts of taxpayer cash on a failing asylum deportation plan
— Sophie Huskisson (@soph_husk) March 22, 2024
James Cleverly’s one-night Rwanda trip cost more than £165,000 on private jet flightshttps://t.co/HRTdJJLGeZ
Having accepted that it is going to cost £1.8 million to remove EACH asylum seeker, @JamesCleverly thought it a good use of taxpayer cash to spend £165,000 on a flight to Rwanda.
— Lichfield’s Lips ???? (@lichfield_lips) March 22, 2024
We’ve now entered the “Brewster Millions” phase have of government. https://t.co/icdKUvPTpz
The other great irony is that this Rwanda trip so dominated the news agenda that day that there was scant coverage of the release of the latest OECD PISA numbers, showing England climbing up the global education rankings - a rare success story https://t.co/qf6gHxrO4s
— Ed Conway (@EdConwaySky) March 22, 2024
And yet, ironically, that is still far less than it will cost per individual this government attempts to send to Rwanda under the deal itself. #r4todayhttps://t.co/p0lu1bBMyxpic.twitter.com/LuPkAutbKG
— Dan Sohege ???? (@stand_for_all) March 22, 2024