Britain | Expelliarmus!

The magical thinking behind Britain’s Rwanda bill

Laws should be rooted in reality

A migrant carries his son as he walks ashore on Dungeness beach after being rescued in the English Channel by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
The centre of many stormsPhotograph: Getty Images

“Magical thinking” is an overused term. Yet it well describes the government’s new Safety of Rwanda bill, which passed its first vote in Parliament on December 12th.

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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Expelliarmus!”

From the December 16th 2023 edition

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