Tory rebel Robert Jenrick says he is prepared to vote against Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill
Rishi Sunak is pleading with the House of Lords to back his Rwanda plan after it passed the Commons last night.
In a press conference on Thursday morning, the prime minister described the bill as a “national priority” and urged the upper chamber to “do the right thing”.
“There is now only one question,” he said. “Will the opposition in the appointed House of Lords try and frustrate the will of the people as expressed by the elected House?” Or will they get on board and do the right thing?”
After a very short opening statement, Mr Sunak went straight on the attack against Labour, saying Keir Starmer’s party had “no plan”.
He also could not guarantee that flights to Rwanda would take off before the next election, expected in the spring or autumn.
Sunak meets Border Force staff after passing Rwanda Bill
Rishi Sunak has met with Border Force staff after the Rwanda bill passed through the Commons.
The prime minister visited workers at Gatwick Airport, where he met a sniffer dog and chatted with those present.
Therese Coffey hits back after mistaking Rwanda capital for another country
The top Tory, who served as deputy prime minister under Liz Truss, insisted that Kigali is “of course” the capital city of Rwanda, saying she was not involved in a mix-up over the two.
Archie Mitchell reports:
Devastating poll result shows only 10% of voters under 50 would support Conservatives at next election
The survey of more than 2,000 adults found only 20 per cent said they would vote for Rishi Sunak’s party, while fewer than half (49 per cent) of those who back the Tories in 2019 intend to support the party.
Zoe Grunewald reports:
Sunak tweet claiming to have cleared asylum backlog reemerges after watchdog rebuke
Rishi Sunak’s tweet claiming the government had cleared the asylum backlog has remerged after it was branded misleading by a watchdog.
Earlier, the UK Statistics Authority said the government’s repeated claims to have cleared the backlog may have misled voters and affected trust in politics.
You can read that story in full here:
Autumn election is a ‘risky business’, think tank chief warns
Holding an election in November is a “risky business” for the Conservative Party due to the potential impact of the US presidential contest, a think tank chief has warned.
Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, made the comment after Jacob Rees-Mogg said he would prefer Donald Trump to Joe Biden as the US president.
“This is why I think a mid-November general election in the UK is a risky business for the Tories – if their MPs are actually going to say they’re Trump fans you’ll make this a (weirdly) big part of our short campaign,” he said.
Lords timetable for Rwanda Bill already agreed – report
The timetable for debating the Rwanda Bill in the House of Lords has already been agreed.
The legislation will get its second reading on 29 January, before moving to the committee stage on 12, 14 and 19 February, the BBC reports.
A report will probably be ready by 4 March, with a third reading on 12 March.
“So MPs will be looking at (ie trying to remove) Lords amendments by about 18 March,” BBC chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman says.
MPs back plan to designate Islamist political group Hizb ut-Tahrir as terrorist
MPs have backed plans to ban Islamist political group Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation.
Hizb ut-Tahrir has organised rallies which took place on the streets of London alongside pro-Palestine marches in recent months, following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
In the House of Commons, security minister Tom Tugendhat said the proscription order would cover the entire global organisation, as well as all regional branches including Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain.
He told MPs: “This proscription will serve as a reminder that the United Kingdom does not and will never tolerate the promotion of or encouragement of terrorism.
“It will send the message that promoting or encouraging Hamas’ sickening attack on October 7 is utterly unacceptable and at odds with the values of this country.”
File photo: Tom Tugendhat
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File photo: Tom Tugendhat
Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill is ‘step toward totalitarianism’, leading lawyer warns
What was Rishi Sunak’s press conference all about? – Analysis
The Independent’s political correspondent Zoe Grunewald has run the rule over the prime minister’s press conference this morning.
Rishi Sunak’s almost-impromptu press conference has left journalists scratching their heads.
It is highly unusual for a prime minister to call an emergency press conference at twelve hours-notice with nothing at all new to announce. Mr Sunak confirmed – as was already known – that the hotly contentious Rwanda bill would now be making its way into the Lords, having passed its third reading last night.
He called upon peers to pass it. He could not provide any new information, such as when the first flight to Rwanda might take off, nor whether the government would succeed in its pledge to stop the boats entirely.
Rather, the press conference simply confirmed two things. First, that Mr Sunak is measuring the success of his premiership on whether the Rwanda scheme lives or dies.
By drawing attention to its successful passage through the Commons, he is highlighting its importance – and his success. He is making Rwanda his personal yard-stick. Second, that the prime minister is haunted by division. Having government legislation pass in the Commons should not worthy of a press briefing, it is a basic expectation of governance.
But Mr Sunak’s party is so very fractured that the simplest achievement, for a moment, seemed impossible. The prime minister may have wished to demonstrate that his victory in the Conservative power struggle yesterday is evidence that he is a strong and competent leader.
But the reality is that many will still be asking why it was all so difficult in the first place.
When are the House of Lords set to debate Sunak’s Rwanda plan?
The BBC’s chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman has posted the rough timetable for when the House of Lords will debate Rishi Sunak’s controversial Rwanda scheme.
