IF YOU CAN’T SEE THE POLL ABOVE, CLICK HERE
A senior government source told The Times: “It’s pragmatic to consider all options and it makes sense to draw up proposals to stop the boats that could work alongside our Rwanda policy.
“We’re still confident that our Rwanda scheme is lawful, but having alternative proposals on the table would provide us with a backup if we’re frustrated legally. Voters would expect us to leave no stone unturned and that is the right and sensible thing to do.”
When asked why the plans for Ascension Island are being looked at again on Sky News, Safeguarding Minister Sarah Dines said “times change”. She added: “This crisis in the Channel is urgent, we need to look at all possibilities and that is what we are doing.”
Join our free WhatsApp community for the latest politics news
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “They claimed they were going to do this years ago but it never got off the ground. This joins a long list of headline-chasing announcements that are never delivered.
“It’s time the home secretary got serious and did the hard graft to tackle the chaos in the asylum system after 13 years of Tory government. That includes cracking down on the criminal smuggling gangs and clearing the asylum backlog, as Labour has proposed.”
So what do YOU think? Should migrants be sent to Ascension Island if the Rwanda scheme fails? Vote in our poll and join the debate in the comment section below.
