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Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Robert Jenrick refused to tell Andrew Castle the name of the person or Keir Starmer mate he claimed in his article is stopping people being deported to Rwanda during interview.
LBC wrote: “‘Can you just name the person that you claim in your article is stopping people being deported to Rwanda, who is a mate of Keir Starmer?’
“@AndrewCastle63 is baffled by @RobertJenrick’s refusal to name the Labour adviser who is allegedly working to prevent the Rwanda policy.”
Tory govt minister Robert Jenrick explains that he ordered a Micky Mouse mural at a centre looking after children to be painted over in order to smash the people smuggling gangs..
Minister’s refusal to name names lands him in awkward position
However, Jenrick – like most of his colleagues – believes the best form of defence is attack. He penned a column for The Sun this weekend, claiming that Keir Starmer is conspiring with charities and lawyers to ‘thwart their work’. It’s a bold claim, and one that requires more clarity.
Castle pressed Jenrick on the nature of his allegations earlier today. After a few evasive answers, the presenter eventually lost his cool with the politician, who repeatedly failed to identify who is allegedly in cahoots with the Labour leader..
The real time fact-checking exercise was bruising for Robert Jenrick. He was also forced to defend his decision to paint over murals at an children’s immigration processing centre earlier this year, arguing that the artwork wasn’t ‘age appropriate’.
The Conservative Party has announced a set of controversial measures in order to manage migration numbers. Ideas like the Rwanda agreement and housing migrants on non-seaworthy barges have drawn ire across the political spectrum.
Staff at the Kent intake unit resisted, but Jenrick was reportedly adamant, to make clear, he said, that this was a “law enforcement environment” and “not a welcome centre”, doggedly mimicking his boss, Suella Braverman.
Here was performative politics for imagined rightwing voters, but even they may have blenched, like many of his own MPs. There was little danger of this unit becoming a welcome centre, since its last inspection report found the toilets “unacceptably dirty” with a “too limited” range of toys for young children and “little reading material”..
A Tory minister going to war with Mickey Mouse is pitch-perfect political imagery for the ending of their era. May he be greeted forever by people wearing Mickey Mouse ears. Philip Pullman tweeted: “Cold, cruel, the act of a soul that’s shrivelled and mean to its core.” Stephen Kinnock, the shadow migration minister, said: “All they have left is tough talk and cruel and callous policies,” as the story flew around the world to shame us all yet again.
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