Starmer: Rwanda scheme would have taken 80 years to match Labour’s deportation record
The prime minister has said that countries must do work “at home” to address the issue of people smuggling, as he rued the “soft touch” approach taken on illegal working by previous governments. Keir Starmer revealed that since Labour took office, more than 24,000 people had been returned to their countries of origin. Opening a […]
Rwanda scheme was ‘un-Conservative and un-British’, says John Major
Ex-Tory prime minister Sir John Major has called the former government’s Rwanda deportation plan “un-Conservative and un-British”.
Rishi Sunak suggests Rwanda flights will not take off before election
Rishi Sunak has suggested that the first Rwanda flights will not take off before the general election. The prime minister said the first Rwanda flights “will go in July” if the Conservatives win the election, which will be held on 4 July. “We have already put the preparations in place for that”, he added. At […]
What Rwanda victory means for Rishi Sunak
The below content first appeared in Politics.co.uk’s Politics@Lunch newsletter, subscribe here and never miss this daily briefing. The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill finally cleared parliament just after midnight, ending a lengthy showdown between the House of Commons and House of Lords. The bill will now go for royal assent — the final step […]
Polling expert sees Rwanda scheme as ‘last card’ Sunak can play against Labour
The government’s Rwanda deportation plan is the “last substantial card” the prime minister has left to play against the Labour Party ahead of the next general election, a polling expert has said. Polling guru professor Sir John Curtice was reacting this morning to the passage of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill last […]
Rwanda Bill passes as House of Lords opts not to table further amendments — as it happened
Peers in the House of Lords have decided not to oppose the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill in a major victory for Rishi Sunak. The bill will now go for royal assent, the final step before it becomes law. Late Monday evening, MPs voted 312-237 to reject the final Lords amendment to the […]
Sunak’s Rwanda gamble comes with serious risks
The below content first appeared in Politics.co.uk’s Politics@Lunch newsletter, subscribe here and never miss this daily briefing. Five months after Rishi Sunak first unveiled the Safety of Rwanda Bill as a response to the Supreme Court’s ruling against the full deportation scheme, today is the day the controversial legislation is expected to finally clear parliament. More […]
Rwanda Bill: Rishi Sunak vows deportation flights will begin in ’10 to 12 weeks’
Rishi Sunak has held a press conference in No 10 Downing Street today, ahead of crunch votes on the Rwanda bill this afternoon and likely this evening. Urging peers to allow the legislation to complete its passage through parliament, the prime minister warned that his political opponents “have used every trick in the book to […]
Rishi Sunak is being ‘inauthentic’ on ECHR threat, claims Suella Braverman
Suella Braverman has said that the prime minister’s “noises” about withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) are likely to be seen by voters as being “inauthentic”. It came as the former home secretary urged Rishi Sunak to take the UK out of the ECHR and fight the coming general election on the […]
Gordon Brown accuses Sunak of undermining the ‘whole system of international law’
Gordon Brown has accused the prime minister of “systematically undermining” the “whole system of international law” with his threat to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Writing in The Times newspaper, the former Labour prime minister responded to Rishi Sunak’s comments last week in which the prime minister suggested he could leave the […]
