Markus Andrews

Reform UK’s deputy leader Ben Habib appeared to suggest migrants should be left to drown in the English Channel in comments that horrified an interviewer on Tuesday, 23 April.It came after a seven-year-old girl was among five migrants who died as they tried to cross the water hours after parliament passed Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda bill.Mr Habib told Julia Hartley-Brewer: “We only have an obligation to save people if it’s reasonable to do so.”When challenged on his beliefs, Mr Habib replied: “We could… provide them with another dinghy… [to] go back to France.”And if they choose to scupper that dinghy, then yes, they have to suffer the consequences of that.”When asked if he would leave them to drown, Mr Habib said “Absolutely.” More

Angela Rayner labelled Rishi Sunak a “pint-sized loser” as she claimed Boris Johnson was the Conservative Party’s “biggest election winner” during a heated Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) exchange.The Labour deputy leader accused Oliver Dowden of urging the prime minister to call an early general election to minimise Tory losses on Wednesday (24 April).Ms Rayner said: “Has he finally realised that when he stabbed Boris Johnson in the back to get his mate into No.10 he was ditching their biggest election winner for a pint-sized loser?” More

Prime Minister’s Questions descended into chaos on Wednesday 24 April, as a Tory MP opened the session by attacking Labour with a long-winded question.Jonathan Gullis stood to speak for 85 seconds, before asking deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden if it was “time for Stoke-on-Trent Labour to axe the garden tax”.His softball question to Mr Dowden, who was standing in for Rishi Sunak, was met with loud jeers from the opposition.After Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle moved the session on, the deputy PM joked that “there was not much he could add” to Mr Gullis’s point. More

Angela Rayner told Tory MPs to “stop obsessing” over her council tax and “get a grip” during a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 24 April.The deputy Labour leader’s reply came after Oliver Dowden aimed a jibe at her, joking that she would be claiming the House of Commons as her principal residence soon.Ms Rayner has faced scrutiny regarding whether she paid the right amount of tax on the 2015 sale of her Stockport council house because of confusion over whether it was her principal residence.She has insisted she believes she followed the law at all times. More

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said it was “reasonable” to cut 72,000 civil service jobs to fund Rishi Sunak’s pledge to boost defence spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2030.Speaking to BBC Breakfast today (24 April), Mr Shapps said: “That actually will take the civil service back to where it was before Covid, so I think that is a very reasonable approach.“We think it is important we fund the front line. It comes before everything else and if we don’t defend the nation, then everything else becomes slightly less of an issue.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer Labour minister and crossbench peer Frank Field has died aged 81, his family has announced.Lord Field had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. A statement from Lord Field of Birkenhead’s family, issued by his Parliamentary office, said: “Frank Field (Rt Hon Lord Field of Birkenhead, CH) has died at the age of 81 following a period of illness.“Frank was director of the Child Poverty Action Group between 1969 and 1979, and the Member of Parliament for Birkenhead between 1979 and 2019.Former Labour minister and crossbench peer Frank Field has died at the age of 81 (Yui Mok/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailGrant Shapps has risked inflaming tensions with Britain’s most important ally, saying the US only does the right thing after “they have exhausted all other options”.The defence secretary aimed the barb at his American colleagues after the Senate approved a $61bn military aid package for Ukraine on Tuesday night.President Joe Biden said he would sign the historic support package on Wednesday.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (left) and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps arrive at Warsaw Chopin airport in Warsaw during a visit to Poland and Germany. Picture date: Tuesday April 23, 2024. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRwanda will benefit from asylum seekers sent from Britain because it is “slightly underpopulated” following the 1994 genocide, the home secretary has claimed. His comments came just hours after parliament passed Rishi Sunak’s controversial Rwanda Bill, designed to give thousands a one-way ticket to the African country. Speaking at an event in Rome, James Cleverly was asked why Rwanda had agreed to take asylum seekers from the UK. As well as the millions of pounds the UK has paid the country’s government, Mr Cleverly also pointed to its tragic past. In 1994, an estimated that more than 800,000 people were killed when members of the Tutsi ethnic group were massacred by Hutu militias.Mr Cleverly said: “For a country of a fairly modest population, it lost a very significant number of its people. So Rwanda – I may be a bit clunky with my phraseology – Rwanda is slightly underpopulated and there is definitely capacity for the individuals who are being relocated to Rwanda to be financially much more better off than they would be in their country of origin but also for Rwanda as a nation to be economically much more better off.”Mr Sunak has come under intense pressure to rethink the policy after five people, including a young girl, died trying to cross the channel. The UN was among leading voices urging the UK government to reconsider, amid warnings the plan would fall to act as a deterrent to stop desperate asylum seekers trying to come to the UK in small boats.Home Secretary James Cleverly is in Italy to discuss migration (James Manning/PA) More