Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak risks inflaming his row with Ireland over the return of asylum seekers after he accused the Irish government of “cherry picking” international agreements. The prime minister said his administration was seeking “urgent clarification” there would be no new checkpoints at or near the border with Northern Ireland as tensions between London and Dublin escalate. Ireland has hit out at what it says is a high number of recent arrivals coming from the UK. It has said it will redeploy 100 police officers to deal with the problem, although it has denied that these will be used along the border, the scene of much violence during the Troubles. The Irish cabinet has also approved a plan to start returns to the UK, something Mr Sunak says the UK will not accept.An open border is a key tenet of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought the Troubles to an end. Mr Sunak told MPs there could no be “cherry-picking” of international agreements from the Irish government. He said the UK had “made commitments to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and … the Irish government must uphold its promises too.”We can’t have cherry-picking of important international agreements and so the Secretary of State is seeking urgent clarification that there will be no disruption or police checkpoints at or near the border.” He added: “And I can confirm that the United Kingdom has no legal obligation to accept returns of illegal migrants from Ireland.” Rishi Sunak speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons, London (House of Commons/PA) More

The Home Office has detained the first set of migrants for deportation to Rwanda, with flights set to take off at the beginning of July. A week after Rishi Sunak’s controversial Safety of Rwanda Bill gained royal assent, the government said the first phase of detentions was underway for deportation flights. James Cleverly said enforcement teams are working “at pace to swiftly detain those who have no right to be here” as part of the “pioneering” scheme. James Cleverly said enforcement teams are working ‘at pace to swiftly detain those who have no right to be here’ More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch live as Rishi Sunak faces Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 1 May, after the government paid an asylum seeker £3,000 to relocate to Rwanda.The failed asylum claimant became the first person to be paid under a voluntary return scheme running alongside the government’s controversial deportation agreement with the country.He is understood not to be from Rwanda originally.He is also understood to now be in Rwanda after his commercial flight left on Monday evening, The Sun reported.Labour has criticised the move as an expensive attempt by the Conservative Party to gain votes ahead of Thursday’s local elections, in which the Tories are expected to endure heavy losses.“Stopping the boats” is one of the prime minister’s five pledges to the public.Kemi Badenoch said the decision of the failed asylum seeker to voluntarily relocate to Rwanda shows it is a safe country.The business and trade secretary told Times Radio: “One of the big arguments about this scheme was Rwanda wasn’t a safe country, and actually people are volunteering to go there.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe government has been accused of an “extortionate pre-election gimmick” after paying an asylum seeker £3,000 to relocate to Rwanda.Under a scheme running alongside the government’s controversial deportation agreement with the east African nation, ministers can pay failed asylum applicants up to £3,000 to get on a flight to Kigali.And on Tuesday, an African man became the first to take the government up on its offer, just in time for Thursday’s local elections.Rishi Sunak has moved to end the parliamentary deadlock over his Rwanda Bill which will pave the way for deportation flights to get off the ground once it becomes law (PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBrian Rose, the London Real Party candidate for London Mayor, has hit out at the Labour and Tory candidates for being obsessed with political attacks rather than substance.MrRose is a banker-turned-broadcaster who previously ran in the 2021 election, placing seventh with 31,111 votes. He was responding to the dispute between incumbent Mr Khan and The Tory’s Susan Hall, over alleged plans to charge London drivers by the mile.The London Real Party candidate said: “This is such a depressingly good example of politicians being obsessed with politics rather than people. There is a huge debate to be had about how we fund investment in our capital’s transport infrastructure, while keeping the air clean.“Yet Khan and Hall have become bogged down in a meaningless tit-for-tat over when and where Khan claimed he was looking at a pay-per-mile approach for London motorists.“Meanwhile, out in the real world, drivers are being milked dry by Khan, TfL remains a case study in how not to fund transport, and London’s main roads remain jammed and polluted because of Khan’s obsession with Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.”‘Khan and Hall have become bogged down in a meaningless tit-for-tat’ More