PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak has bet Piers Morgan £1000 that the Government will deport asylum seekers to Rwanda before the next election.
The UK has paid Rwanda £240 million under the Prime Minister’s flagship plan to “stop the boats” and ministers expect to pay an additional £50m next year.
However, so far, no migrants have been removed due to legal challenges that resulted in the Supreme Court blocking an earlier iteration of the scheme.
Challenging Sunak on the troubled policy during an interview on TalkTV, Morgan challenged the PM to a bet.
READ MORE: Peers inflict first defeat against Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda asylum plan
After shaking hands with Morgan on the terms of the Rwanda bet, Sunak said: “I want to get the people on the plane. I am working incredibly hard to get the people on the planes.”
Stephen Flynn, the SNP's leader in Westminster, reacted to a clip of the interview online, calling the two men "depraved".
He tweeted: "The lives of some of the most vulnerable people on the planet reduced to a crude bet. It’s just a game to these people. Depraved."
Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie also condemned the bet, writing: "I'm not sure I've ever been so disgusted by British politics."
Sunak is trying to revive the policy by passing legislation deeming Rwanda a safe country and ratifying a new treaty with Kigali.
The Rwanda Bill is currently making its way through the House of Lords, filled with peers who are hostile to the scheme.
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