Ministers considered sending illegal migrants to a tiny British island in the middle of the South Atlantic, according to Jacob Rees-Mogg.
This was revealed by the former Cabinet Office minister on GB News in response to a viewer’s suggestion that the island of Ascension could be a better option for processing migrants than the Government’s controversial Rwanda proposal.
Ascension is a British Overseas Territory comprised of Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha, a trio of highly distant and sparsely populated islands.
The island is around 1,000 miles from the African coast and 1,400 miles from the nearest South American coast.
In response, Mr Rees-Mogg revealed he had considered the same idea but said: “Peter, I’m so sorry, we couldn’t, I looked at the cost of this when I was in Government and we just couldn’t”
Suella Braverman, then Home Secretary, reportedly chose Ascension Island as a backup plan to accommodate Britain’s illegal migrants if the Rwanda proposal failed.
As Mr Rees-Mogg’s statements this evening appear to confirm, housing thousands of asylum seekers on the 34 square mile island in one of the most remote corners of the world may have proved too difficult.
The Prime Minister stated unequivocally that the rules would allow Parliament to declare Rwanda a safe haven for asylum seekers, and that he would do “whatever is necessary” to make the proposal a reality.