Letter: Rwanda policy just another example of misleading information from this dishonest government

Yet, despite claims to the contrary, his Rwanda strategy has not proved to be a “deterrent” to the illegal Channel crossings. In fact, it has proved to be very expensive, utterly impractical, and is seemingly doomed to die by a thousand cuts due to intractable legal obstacles. It is succinctly encapsulated in the simplistic, xenophobic mantra “stop the small boats”. However, this dubious policy continues to be promoted via deceptive claims and skewed data.

There are many other examples of misleading information being disseminated by this dishonest government in pursuit of its misguided policies. A striking example was “the Brexit NHS promise”. The £350m per week pledge was a key element of the Vote Leave’s promise to voters. It was claimed that funds saved after leaving the EU could be diverted into additional health expenditure. Given the precarious, current state of the NHS, it can be assumed that this was also a fraudulent claim.

In 2016, Nigel Farage alleged confidently that “getting Brexit done” would herald cheaper food. Last year, Jacob Rees-Mogg asserted that Brexit would “allow us to lower food prices”. The long suffering public waited in vain for these affordable groceries in the midst of a crippling cost of living crisis.

Thus it came as no surprise that DEFRA has just introduced a new fee – the common user charge – applicable to all animal and plant imports. Was this unexpected and unwelcome increase in food prices included in the 2019 Tory manifesto outlining the future “benefits” of Brexit? The beleaguered UK consumers would really like to know.

There is also the NI Protocol and the Tory assurances given to their DUP chums that there would no Irish Sea border or checks on goods moving between GB and NI. The dire repercussions of this betrayal pose an existential threat to the Good Friday Agreement.

Once again our rights have been traded away for nothing more than a hill of beans. Students and professionals have lost their ability to work in Europe, institutions protecting our human rights are under siege, and “red tape” (laws for the protection of UK consumers) has been slashed. Quite a heavy price to pay for empty promises and the Tory Brexiteer’s delusions of grandeur.

Thus we need to build a political ecosystem in Britain where lies carry consequences and mechanisms exist to hold politician’s feet to the fire.

George Workman, Donabate, Co Dublin