British Home Secretary sticks to tough course on asylum policy

British Home Secretary Suella Braverman wants to continue the government's tough course on asylum policy. She will push for a change in the law that would allow deportation of people who did not come into the country through established refugee programs, Braverman said Tuesday at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. The government also wants to stick to the plan to fly illegal migrants to Rwanda, regardless of their nationality. If their asylum applications are accepted there, they can stay, and a return to Great Britain would then be impossible.

It was only in June that the government of then Prime Minister Boris Johnson had to stop a planned deportation flight to Rwanda at the last minute after intervention by the European Court of Human Rights. The court in Strasbourg saw “a real risk of irreversible damage” for those affected. Although Britain has already paid Rwanda 120 million pounds (around 138 million euros) for the deal, it has not yet sent a single migrant to the East African country.

The government in London sees the plan as a tried and tested means of deterring people smugglers. Human rights activists, however, criticize the project as impractical. It is illegal and inhumane

Taking people to a country thousands of miles away where they didn't want to live, activists explained.

For several years, Great Britain has been confronted with a large influx of migrants and refugees from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Sudan, who dare to cross the English Channel in often unseaworthy boats. Fatal accidents happen again and again.

Meanwhile, UK Treasury Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has denied reports he intends to bring forward his budget presentation. A statement he made the night before at the British Conservative Party conference in Birmingham had been misinterpreted, the conservative politician made clear in an interview with GB News on Tuesday. Kwarteng had said the budget would be published "soon". But by that he meant November 23, Kwarteng clarified.

Several British media had previously reported, citing insiders, that the government wanted to bring forward the budget in order to regain financial market confidence. An announcement of far-reaching tax cuts, which should primarily benefit high earners, had previously caused turbulence on the financial markets. The main problem was that it was not clear how the plans were to be counter-financed. The pound's exchange rate against the dollar plummeted. The Bank of England was forced to buy long-dated government bonds to keep pension funds from collapsing. The conservative ruling party's polls plummeted.

Under pressure from within its own party, the government reversed the abolition of the top tax rate on Monday. However, further measures were expected to strengthen confidence in the government's financial competence. In its budget, the government wants to explain how the tax cuts are to be financed. The hope is that this will stop the flight of investors, stabilize the pound and halt the decline in government bonds. The markets had therefore initially reacted positively to the reports that the budget would be brought forward. At the very least, Kwarteng's denial shouldn't increase confidence.