Rwanda bill – latest: Rishi Sunak pushes Tory MPs to back ‘stop the boats’ plan ahead of crunch vote
Prime minister faces mounting rebellion over flagship immigration policy
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Your support makes all the difference.Rishi Sunak is staging a last-ditch bid to win over right-wing Conservatives MPs threatening to defeat his Rwanda deportation legislation.
The PM faces a mounting rebellion over the flagship immigration policy, with Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith poised to back rebel amendments to the bill.
Mr Anderson and Mr Clarke-Smith said they would defy the Government by joining more than 60 Tory MPs who are seeking to disapply international law from the Bill and curtail asylum seekers’ rights to appeal against flights to Kigali.
But any attempt by Mr Sunak to placate them would be opposed by more moderate Tories, who are keen to protect the legislation against breaches of international law.
It comes as the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has concluded after a legal assessment of the UK government’s new Rwanda bill that it’s not compatible with international law.
The UNHCR said the modified Rwanda scheme “does not meet the required standards relating to the legality and appropriateness of the transfer of asylum seekers and is not compatible with international refugee law”.
Reader questions answered as Tory popularity plummets
The Independent’s chief political commenator John Rentoul has been answering reader questions:
John Rentoul answers your questions as Tory popularity plummets
With so much contradictory information out there, chief political commenator John Rentoul has been answering reader questions on the polls, Conservative popularity amid the Rwanda bill vote and Labour’s position in the run up to the election
Scots leader defends invitation to Turkish president
Scotland’s First Minister has defended inviting the Turkish president to visit, saying both countries are “on a journey” regarding human rights.
Humza Yousaf briefly met Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the Cop28 UN climate summit in Dubai last year – drawing the ire of the Foreign Office due to a UK official not being present.
Minutes of the meeting given to the Herald under freedom of information legislation show the First Minister “invited RTE to visit Scotland during a future visit to the UK”.
The meeting drew criticism from within the First Minister’s own party, with SNP councillor Roza Salih saying she “did not expect this from a FM that says he respects human rights” over Turkey’s treatment of Kurds.
Mr Yousaf said: “I said the next time he’s in the United Kingdom, he should come up to Scotland.
“Turkey is a Nato ally; why would we not wish to have a Nato ally here?”
Loan charge victims need full investigation, say MPs
A fair resolution and “full independent investigation” is required into the loan charge fiasco to avoid “another Horizon scandal”, according to MPs.
The controversial tax-avoidance clampdown has affected an estimated 60,000 people and been linked to 10 suicides, the Commons was told.
DUP MP Sammy Wilson said there are “frightening parallels” between the loan charge and the Horizon IT scandal, which led to more than 700 Post Office branch managers being convicted.
Mr Wilson and other MPs tabled a parliamentary motion on the loan charge that warned many people are facing “unaffordable demands”, there is the “risk of further suicides” and that a review conducted by Lord Morse was “limited and not genuinely independent” of the Treasury and HMRC.
Does a dire opinion poll mean it’s all over for the Conservatives?
How bad is it for the party supported by a mere 20 per cent of voters, asks Sean O’Grady:
Does the latest dire opinion poll mean it’s all over for the Conservative Party?
As a new survey by YouGov puts Labour a shocking 27 percentage points ahead of the Tories, Sean O’Grady asks whether Rishi Sunak should take it seriously – and if so, what happens next
Voters care about economy far more than immigration, polling guru says
Voters will be more concerned about the state of the economy than immigration at the next election, top polling guru Sir John Curtice says:
Voters care about the economy far more than immigration, polling guru says
Sir John Curtice said government was focusing on wrong issue – as Citizens Advice saw number of people in financial crisis triple since 2023
HS2 ‘intimidated landowners over compensation claims after contact with MP’
HS2 has been accused of intimidating landowners who raised compensation cases against the high speed rail company with their Tory MP:
Home Office loses track of nearly 6,000 asylum-seekers
Almost 6,000 asylum-seekers whose claims have been withdrawn have gone missing in the UK, ministers have admitted:
Home Office loses track of nearly 6,000 asylum seekers
The migrants ‘remain in the UK and the Home Office is taking steps to urgently re-establish contact with them’.
Ban on Islamist group as terror organisation becomes law
Plans to ban Islamist political group Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation have been approved by Parliament.
Hizb ut-Tahrir has organised rallies that took place in London alongside pro-Palestinian marches in recent months, following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
It has already been banned in Germany, as well as in several Arab and Asian countries because of what the Home Office has described as its “long-term goal of establishing a caliphate ruled under Islamic law”.
With headquarters in Lebanon, the group also operates in at least 32 countries including the United States, Canada and Australia.
Both the Commons and Lords backed plans to proscribe the group as a terror organisation on Thursday.
It paved the way for the ban to come into force on Friday.
It will mean belonging to, inviting support for and displaying symbols of the group in public will be a criminal offence.
I have no skeletons in cupboard, says Starmer
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he has “no skeletons in the closet” from his time in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) ahead of the general election:
Keir Starmer says there are ‘no skeletons’ in his closet ahead of general election
Sir Keir Starmer has defended his record as a lawyer and the director of public prosecutions, saying the Tories will not find a ‘smoking gun’ in his past
Analysis: What Labour’s new ‘campaign guide’ tells us about its policies
Labour’s Let’s Get Britain’s Future Back document might be best thought of as a pilot for the manifesto. Sean O’Grady looks at what it means – and what there is in it to worry about:
What does Labour’s new ‘campaign guide’ tell us about its policies?
The party’s newly published pamphlet is a frustrating mix of some highly specific initiatives and others that are either vague or raise huge practical questions. Sean O’Grady has read it so you don’t have to...
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