Liverpool actor David Morrissey hits out at Rwanda plan

David Morrissey called for a more humanitarian approach

Actor David Morrissey has hit out at the government's Rwanda asylum project as he received an honorary university degree.

The Sherwood star said he was "disgusted" by the idea of sending people looking for refuge in the UK to a far away country.

The human rights campaigner made the comments as he was handed an honorary degree at Liverpool Hope University.

In December Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended the plan as "common sense".

The five-year trial will see some asylum seekers sent to the African country on a one-way ticket to claim asylum there.

Morrissey is a goodwill ambassador for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

'Important to challenge'

He said: "It is very important for me to challenge the narrative we sometimes get in this country for people arriving on our shores," he said.

"They are individuals and we have to look at them with a real humanitarian eye rather than the dog whistle that sometimes happens in our headlines.

"It really disgusts me when I hear members of our government saying that they dream at night about putting people on planes and taking them to Rwanda."

The 58-year-old told BBC North West Tonight: "I don't think a lot of us understand what they are fleeing from.

"Whether it is for conflict or climate crisis we are all connected.

"We all have a responsibility for that. We as a country have to face up to that responsibility."

The actor, who grew up in Kensington in Liverpool, said he was "humbled" to return home to the city to be made a doctor of humane letters in recognition of his acting career and his work with social justice charities.

He said he was "very proud" and praised the university for doing "so much to champion the arts".

Morrissey, who got his big break as a teenager in Willy Russell's One Summer which was screened on Channel 4 in 1983, said he felt "very lucky" to have had a 40-year career.

"I pinch myself all the time. My dad said if you do a job you love you will never do a day's work in your life and I feel that."

Dr Penny Haughan, the university's interim vice-chancellor, said the "superb actor" and champion of various charities was "a shining example to all our students".

The BBC has asked the Home Office to comment.

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