Marco Longhi: “The Rwanda plan will work, but the policy could be more stringent”

Marco Longhi aims to keep his seat in the House of Commons in the July elections, with immigration policy at the heart of his campaign.

Longhi believes that high levels of immigration are unsustainable and that some illegal immigrants are working in the UK as a front for organized crime.

He said: “I still think there is a chance that the Rwanda plan will work and the moment we see planes taking off, those inflatables will stop coming because they know if you come to the UK illegally you will go to Rwanda.

“I think the boats – as soon as they land, should be taken directly back to France.

“Illegal immigrants go to Ireland because they can see a bill from Rwanda and Ireland says ‘we don’t want them’.

“Ireland is the EU, why can’t we send them back to France when they say they can be sent back to the UK.”

Longhi won the 2019 general election in Dudley North, winning one of the traditionally Labor constituencies known as part of the “Red Wall”.

Following the boundary change, Dudley North became simply Dudley, but the political landscape of the new constituency is almost identical to its predecessor.

He said: “This place has never been conservative before in its history because the polls show me as the clear underdog.

“My own polls show I am about 20 points behind. I just hope people appreciate my local work.”

There are high deprivation areas in the Dudley constituency where the cost of living is high.

Longhi believes that the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are mainly responsible for the price increase, and that the conservative government has “basically” treated the economy responsibly. He even sees a positive side to Liz Truss’ short time as Prime Minister.

He said: “Liz Truss had some good ideas but the way she implemented them was too deep and too fast, with an element of political naivety.

“When you are rushed into a position, you rely a lot on advisors and I would say she was badly advised.”

Longhi believes inflation is close to the Bank of England’s two per cent target and people will soon be better off thanks to falls in the costs of mortgages, food and fuel.

In January, auditors described Dudley Council’s financial situation as a “major concern”, but Longhi believes that blaming government cuts on local authority grants does not tell the whole story.

He said: “Dudley has had a difficult time but it was never in any real danger, the Government have pumped huge amounts of money into Dudley and other local authorities during Covid-19.

“Special payments for people who had additional hardship. A large proportion of business grants have gone to local authorities. There may have been some legacy funds, so the government did a huge amount.”

Longhi says if he manages to turn the political tide and win Dudley, one of his top priorities is to prepare the constituency for “huge sums of money” for transport and road resurfacing.