DOWNING Street has denied that plans to announce a raft of new policies are intended to deflect from the party scandal engulfing the Prime Minister.
As revealed over this weekend, two plans have been created to protect Boris Johnson from having to resign – dubbed ‘Operation Save Big Dog’ and ‘Operation Red Meat’.
The ‘red meat’ plan involves ministers announcing a host of new policies, including giving the military control over deterring migrants from crossing the Channel, and scrapping the BBC licence fee.
Despite refusing to confirm the policy announcements were in the works, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Home Secretary Priti Patel are both making ministerial statements in the Commons this afternoon.
Critics have said the policy blitz is an attempt by the Government to distract the public’s attention from so-called partygate, in a last-ditch effort to save Boris Johnson from having to resign.
However Downing Street rejected this, with the Prime Minister’s official spokesman saying he would not comment on “speculation”.
Asked specifically about the migrant plans and reports that Rwanda and Ghana were being considered as potentially third country processing locations, he said “all options” were being considered, adding: “We remain determined to prevent further loss of life in the Channel and break the business model of dangerous criminal people smugglers.
“It’s right that we pursue all options to prevent illegal crossings, to protect life at sea.
“The UK armed forces already work closely with Border Force in these operations, given their expertise and experience in maritime operations.
“But beyond that I’m not going to get into speculation about further discussions we may or may not have on how we improve our response.”
When asked if the government was ‘throwing some red meat’ at its party faithful, the spokesman said: “ None of these issues are things that we have not been talking about, or not been seeking to address, for some time.
“You'll appreciate we have continually kept our approaches to small boats under review and the culture secretary and Prime Minister talked about the need for BBC reform many times. So as you'd expect, we'll continue to deliver on those policy priorities.”
It has been reported that the government is intending to send military gunships to tackle the crisis in the Channel and turn back migrants who attempt to cross in small boats.
It has also been suggested that talks are ongoing with Rwanda and Ghana about potentially processing the applications of desperate asylum seekers in these countries before allowing people to come to the UK, or returning them to their home nations.
The SNP has condemned the plans saying they are inhumane and disgraceful.
Stuart McDonald, the party’s shadow Home Secretary, said: “
"Reports that the Tory government intends to put the military in charge of targeting vulnerable refugees in rickety boats and send them to overseas detention facilities are utterly appalling.
"It is shameful that Boris Johnson is putting forward these toxic policies in a desperate attempt to woo his right-wing backbench MPs, distract from the scandals engulfing his party, and to save his own skin.
"The SNP has been consistently clear that the UK government must step up efforts to secure safe and legal routes for people fleeing hardship, poverty and conflict – including refugees from Afghanistan left behind after the UK's chaotic exit from the country.
"Instead, Boris Johnson and Priti Patel have ramped up anti-refugee rhetoric and lurched even further to the extremes.
"Despite the Channel crossing tragedies we have witnessed, it speaks volumes of how low this broken, scandal-ridden Tory government is willing to go to put its own interests first."
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