Rwanda Bill: Conservative MP asks ‘how many’ Afghan nationals Labour wants in UK

Speaking in the House of Commons debate on the Safety of Rwanda Bill this afternoon, Conservative MP Alexander Stafford asked shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock “how many more” immigrants the Labour Party wants “to come to the UK from Afghanistan”.

Kinnock responded: “Well, what the amendment is about is stopping them being sent to Rwanda. But let’s be absolutely clear. There are many, many Afghans who have been identified by the government under the ARAP [Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy] and ACRS [Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme]”.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson undertook to answer Stafford’s question by adding: “The simple answer is all of those who served, who risked their lives to help us in a war which required the support of the local population”.

“What a contrast between his intervention and the intervention of the gentleman on the other benches”, Kinnock responded.

“I genuinely believe that when the gentleman [Stafford] on the opposite benches reflects, he will regret the intervention that he made.”