Well, this is awkward. Like, monumentally awkward for Sir Keir and his crew.

I was scrolling through my news feed this morning (coffee in hand, obviously) when I spotted something that made me literally spit out my drink. Rwanda - yes, THAT Rwanda - has confirmed they're chatting with Trump about taking America's unwanted migrants. The same country Labour insisted couldn't possibly handle our deportees is now apparently good enough for the US.

The Phone Call That Changed Everything

Rwanda's Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe admitted they're in teh "early stages" of negotiations with Trump's team. Early stages! Which means this has been brewing for a while now. My contact at the Foreign Office (who'd absolutely murder me if I revealed their name) texted me last night: "This is going to be a PR nightmare. Everyone's panicking."

And they should be.

According to American media, at least one illegal migrant has already been packed off to the east African nation. One! While the UK spent £700million and managed to send precisely... zero people.

Remember When Starmer Called It a "Gimmick"?

God. The PM was so quick to bin the Rwanda scheme when he took office. Called it a "gimmick" that was destined to fail. Now he's watching Trump potentially implement the exact same policy that he dismissed as unworkable.

I was at a dinner party back in July when this topic came up, and a Labour supporter nearly threw his wine at me for suggesting they might regret cancelling the scheme so hastily. Wonder what he's thinking now...

Suella's Smug "I Told You So" Moment

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman (love her or hate her) must be feeling pretty vindicated right now. She previously warned that a US-Rwanda deal would be "humiliating" for Labour. Hate to say it, but she wasn't wrong.

I remember interviewing her in 2023 about this very issue. She leaned across the table and said, "Mark my words, if we abandon this, someone else will pick it up and make it work." Prophetic? Or just a lucky guess?

What's Rwanda Saying About All This?

Speaking to Rwandan TV (which, confession, I had to Google how to access), Nduhungirehe explained his government was operating in the "spirit" of giving "another chance to migrants who have problems across the world."

Translation: We're open for business, and if America wants to pay us instead of Britain, that's fine by us!

I asked a migration expert at King's College about this yesterday. His response: "already updating my LinkedIn profile to say 'I predicted this'." Academics, amirite?

Trump's Already Shipping People Out

Meanwhile, Trump isn't just talking. He's DOING. His mass deportation program has already seen countless illegal arrivals sent to El Salvador. The man promised a crackdown, and unlike some politicians I could mention (ahem), he's delivering.

Listen. I'm not saying the Rwanda scheme was perfect. Far from it. The legal challenges were real, and the costs were spiraling out of control.

But there's something deeply ironic about Labour scrapping it as unworkable only to watch Trump potentially make it work.

This is going to haunt Starmer for years. Or at least until the next political catastrophe comes along... which, let's be honest, could be tomorrow.