Priti Patel told opposition MPs to “shut up” in angry exchanges in the Commons as she set out her legacy as home secretary.
The cabinet minister – widely expected to be replaced by Suella Braverman on Tuesday after Liz Truss won the Tory leadership – defended her record over the past three years.
She said her record in the Home Office had included “some of the biggest reforms on security, migration and public safety” in a generation.
Heckled by Labour, Lib Dem and SNP MPs on the opposition benches, Ms Patel fired back: “Shut up” – before saying she had been “proud” to serve in Boris Johnson’s government.
The outgoing home secretary defended her record in dealing with migrant boat crossings in the English Channel and her highly-controversial policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Asked by Green MP Caroline Lucas’ if the government might consider dropping the “immoral” plan, Ms Patel said: “Absolutely not – the immoral aspect is the role of people smugglers”.
Ms Patel claimed the idea of “offshoring” asylum seekers in the central African country was being “looked at by countries around the world”.
Despite Monday’s figures showing that more than 1,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in a single day for the second time in a fortnight, Ms Patel still claimed the Rwanda plan would go on to “show that a deterrent factor can be achieved”.
She also rejected concerns raised by Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd that there is “credible evidence of the use of violence and torture by Rwandan security authorities”.
The home secretary said the deal struck with Rwanda “is very clear in terms of standards, the treatment of people that are relocated to Rwanda, the resources that are put in and also the processing of how every applicant is treated”.
It came as the first day of a High Court challenge over the Rwanda agreement heard new evidence on the repeated internal warnings against the plans.
Rwanda was “ruled out” of consideration for an asylum deal by the Foreign Office, but put back on the list of potential countries after “particular interest” was shown by Ms Patel and Mr Johnson.
Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper chose to highlight the rise of knife and gun crime during Ms Patel’s time in office.
“Why have successive Conservative home secretaries allowed it to get this bad?” she asked, adding that “the loss of thousands of police officers” was a “damning” indictment of government failures on policing.
Ms Patel responded by saying she had overseen a boost policy funding, an increase in violence reduction units, and a widening in stop and search powers – “equipping and empowering” officers to go after criminals.
She also underlined her opposition to legalising drugs in her final words as home secretary, telling the Commons: “Drugs are a scourge on society that destroy lives, blight communities, fuel crime and there is no safe way to take dangerous drugs.”
In a lengthy written statement, the outgoing home secretary set out her credentials in tackling crime and “illegal” migration. “All these achievements represent a record of delivering on the people’s priorities – a record of which I am very proud,” she stated.
Meanwhile, Sir Lindsay Hoyle suggested security at parliament will be tightened to prevent a repeat of recent protest in the Commons – which saw Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists superglue themselves around the Speaker’s chair.
Sir Lindsay said steps are being taken to “minimise the risk of a reoccurrence” of the action taken by XR, with police and parliamentary security changing their approach given more protests are planned in the coming fortnight.
Asked about XR activists and other protesters taking direct action, Ms Patel said she had been determined to tackle a “small band of publicity-hungry law breakers” with recent policing and protest legislation.
