Douglas Ross has defended the UK Government’s Rwanda plan, despite this week's Supreme Court judgement, ruling it unlawful.
The Scottish Conservative leader also hit out at the BBC, after a journalist suggested the Prime Minister did not respect the unanimous decision of the the five judges.
In their ruling, they upheld an appeal court judgement which found that there was a real risk of deported refugees having their claims wrongly assessed or being returned to their country of origin where they faced persecution or inhumane treatment. in breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Prime Minister has since pledged to introduce emergency legislation to get around the judgement by ruling that Rwanda is a safe country.
READ MORE: Blow for Sunak as Supreme Court rules Rwanda policy 'unlawful'
Asked whether Mr Sunak was ignoring the ruling, Mr Ross told the BBC’s Sunday Show: "No, and it’s a worry that a BBC journalist would be trying to portray it that way because I’ve just explained that the Prime Minister is going to go away and bring forward emergency legislation to respond to that ruling.
“He has said he respects the ruling of the Supreme Court.
“It didn't go the way the Prime Minister and the UK Government wanted it to go but they will go away and look at that ruling and look at legislation that can be brought forward.
Asked if he thought the plan was morally right, Mr Ross said it would deter asylum seekers from turning to gangs to make the dangerous crossing over the Channel.
“I think everyone can see the principle behind this is to deter people making that journey in the first place and deter these illegal gangs who are preying on vulnerable people, charging them tens of thousands of pounds to make that dangerous crossing, you know, many of whom don't actually make it to the United Kingdom.”
“We have to do everything we can to prevent people making that dangerous journey in the first place,” he added.
“They are coming from France, a safe country, they are making a very dangerous journey and the only people that are benefitting from that are the illegal gangs who target and prey on vulnerable people to financially gain from their very difficult and challenging circumstances.”
READ MORE: Suella Braverman: Sacked Home Sec sets out Rwanda solution
Part of the Prime Minister’s response to the ruling – which found asylum seekers were at risk if sent to Rwanda as they may be returned to their home countries and face persecution there – could be to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
Asked about this, Mr Ross denied that was an idea which had been “discussed or put forward as an option at the moment”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel