Markus Andrews

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailTory MPs have again rejected a plan to stop Afghan heroes who supported British troops from being deported to Rwanda. Parliamentarians on Monday night overturned multiple amendments to the Safety of Rwanda Bill by the House of Lords, including one that would have exempted anyone who supported British armed forces in a meaningful way from being deported to Rwanda. MPs voted 312 to 253, majority 59, to reject Lords amendment 10B, which sought to exempt agents, allies and employees of the UK overseas from being removed to Rwanda. The exemption included people eligible for entry to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).The Bill will return to the Lords on Tuesday for further scrutiny.The Lords and the Commons have been debating the Rwanda Bill, with the legislation going back and forth between the houses as peers try and force the government to make changes to the proposed legislation. Mr Sunak’s government is using the Safety of Rwanda Bill to try and prevent any legal challenges by asylum seekers to their deportation. More

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsRishi Sunak has doubled down on Britain’s backing for Israel after Iran’s “unprecedented” attack, but urged all sides to “show restraint” amid fears the Middle East crisis could spiral out of control.The prime minister said the “reckless and dangerous escalation” by Iran on Saturday night risked plunging the region into a deeper crisis, as he hit out at Tehran for trying to “sow chaos in their own back yard”. Addressing MPs for the first time since Iran launched more than 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles on the nation, Mr Sunak said G7 countries were united in condemning the assault and were working on a package of measures to pile pressure on Iran.He added that he would speak to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to express Britain’s solidarity and discuss “how we can prevent further escalation” – warning that Israel’s security “is non-negotiable” as part of a “fundamental condition for peace in the region”. But in a sign that Britain’s support for Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza is unwavering, the PM repeated that Israel has the “right” to seek to defeat the militant organisation. Mr Netanyahu is considering how to respond to Tehran, with the UK, France, Germany and the European Union all echoing calls by the US for Israel to avoid an escalation that could spark a wider war. Rishi Sunak condemned the ‘reckless and dangerous’ escalation by Iran More

Liz Truss has claimed that those with left-wing political beliefs are “smearing” her by blaming her for economic troubles she is “clearly not responsible for.”Iain Dale told the former prime minister: “People on the left are blaming everything that is wrong in our economy on that mini-Budget,” referring to the turmoil triggered by then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s measures which included £45bn of unfunded tax cuts and prompted the pound to slump to a 37-year low against the dollar.Ms Truss told the LBC presenter: “I think a lot of the public understand what I was trying to do.””But the left… [are] trying to smear me with economic results that… I’m clearly not responsible for.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Tory MP who reported Angela Rayner to the police amid an ongoing row over the sale of her council house refused to explain what alleged offences he thought she had committed.James Daly, the Conservative Party deputy chairman, failed to answer the question three times during an awkward exchange on the BBC’s Daily Politics programme.“Well, the Greater Manchester Police last week…announced that they were investigating various matters in relation to this and therefore I think it’s perfectly appropriate to allow that investigation to proceed,” he said.Mr Daly, who represents the red wall seat of Bury North in Greater Manchester, contacted police to make them aware that neighbours of Ms Rayner had contradicted her account that a property, separate from her husband’s, was her main residency.Greater Manchester Police later launched an investigation into whether Ms Rayner had broken electoral law, having initially said she had no case to answer, following questions about whether she paid the correct amount of tax when she sold the property before becoming an MP.James Daly was asked three times what offence he thought Rayner had committed but did not answer More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe UK government is facing growing calls to proscribe Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation following its attack on Israel. The British Board of Deputies, which represents British Jews, have led the calls for Rishi Sunak to ban the organisation. They have been backed by MPs from across the political divide, while Israel made similar representations to the United Nations security council. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is a powerful force within Iran and also controls the “axis of resistance” against Israel across the region.In a letter to Mr Sunak on Monday, the Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl said: “The IRGC’s role in funding, arming and training a host of terror proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, is clear”. Senior Tories also urged Mr Sunak to take action, with former party leader Iain Duncan-Smith describing ministers’ justifications for not designating the organisation as “absurd”.He told the Guardian: “The government should have already proscribed IRGC. The USA have asked us to do it. The excuses the government uses are [firstly] that if the UK proscribes the IRGC it will lose influence. That’s absurd as we clearly have no influence.”Bob Blackman, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Israel told The Independent he wants to see the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps proscribed and the Iranian embassy “closed in London, as well as our embassy closed down in Tehran, and all our diplomats brought home.”Shadow defence secretary John Healey also said the threat to the UK from allowing the IRGC to operate should be sufficient for the government to be “responsible” and ban the organisation. He added: “It’s the leading edge of the threat that Iran poses not just to Israel, but to Arab countries and western interests right across the region”. Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said on Sunday that the attack “highlights once again the extreme danger of the IRGC”.Foreign secretary David Cameron said that proscribing the “dangerous” organisation was something ministers were keeping under review, alongside a number of possible further sanctions against the stateHe added: “I keep this under review but the police and security services say they have the powers to deal with it here or elsewhere.”Foreign secretary David Cameron has said that proscribing the force was something ministers were keeping under review 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 is set to address parliament following Iran’s attack on Israel, after home secretary James Cleverly takes questions from MPs.The House of Commons returns from Easter recess on Monday 15 April, one day after Tehran launched an “unprecedented” strike on Tel Aviv.Foreign secretary David Cameron has urged Israel to be “smart as well as tough” by not escalating the conflict with Iran in the hours following the attack.The government’s Rwanda legislation, meanwhile, is also high on the agenda for MPs today.Mr Sunak is braced for a fresh round of parliamentary wrangling over his Bill to save the government’s stalled deportation scheme.Sunday became the busiest day yet for Channel crossings this year after more than 500 migrants arrived in the UK in a single day.It means some 6,000 people have made the journey in 2024 to date, with more than 75,000 arrivals recorded two years on from the Rwanda deal being signed.MPs will consider amendments to the Safety of Rwanda Bill by the House of Lords, which inflicted a series of defeats against the controversial policy before rising for the spring break. More

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailAfter the most disastrous stint in Downing Street in living memory, Liz Truss is preparing to release her memoir.She will argue she was ousted by the establishment and make a play for the ideological heart of the Tory Party.The collapse of her project, known as “Trussonomics”, dealt a hammer blow to the Tory party’s long-held reputation for fiscal responsibility and careful economic planning.Former prime minister Liz Truss sat alongside her former friend and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng More

Labour’s shadow defence secretary has urged Rishi Sunak to set out the government’s actions to “pursue the path of peace” in the Middle East.John Healey made the comments after Iran launched an “unprecedented” attack on Israel, which it said was in retaliation against a strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria earlier this month.Israel said Iran launched 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and at least 120 ballistic missiles in an assault that set off air raid sirens across the country.“This is the most serious and most dangerous moment since Hamas launched that unprecedented terror attack on Israel on October 7,” Mr Healey told BBC Breakfast on Monday 15 April. More