To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Policing minister Chris Philp has been ridiculed after appearing to confuse the countries of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Question Time.
Responding to an audience member’s question during the BBC One programme, the Tory MP for Croydon South seemed to ask whether ‘Rwanda is a different country to Congo’.
The comment caused a short outburst of laughter from some members of the debate programme’s audience, while others could be seen with their head in their hands in disbelief.
The camera then cut to a bewildered-looking shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, whose eyes darted around the room.
Audience members couldn’t quite believe their ears (Picture: BBC/Question Time)
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting also looked bewildered (Picture: BBC/Question Time)
The audience member, who said he came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, had asked: ‘Had my family members come from Goma (a city on the country’s border) on a crossing right now, would they then be sent back to the country they are supposedly warring – Rwanda?
Sign up for Metro’s politics newsletter
Not sure what’s going on in the world of politics? Ask Alright, Gov?, Metro’s brand new politics newsletter.
Sign up here for regular updates from Westminster and beyond, exclusive interviews with big names, and easy-to-read breakdowns of how today’s headlines will actually affect you.
‘Does that make any sense to you?’
Mr Philp replied: ‘No, I think there’s an exclusion on people from Rwanda being sent to Rwanda.’
After the audience member objected that his parents were ‘not from Rwanda’, the Conservative MP appeared to ask: ‘Well, I mean, Rwanda is a different country to Congo isn’t it?
‘It’s a different country?’
More Trending
Mr Philp continued: ‘There is a clause in the legislation that says if somebody would suffer, I think the phrase is ‘serious and irreversible harm’ by being sent somewhere, they wouldn’t be sent.
‘So there is that safety mechanism built into the legislation.’
There has been a long history of violent conflict between the neighbouring African countries.
The Rwanda Bill became law on Thursday after being granted royal assent, paving the way for deportation flights to get off the ground.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.