Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has warned migrants threaten to “overwhelm” countries including the UK unless radical action is taken – as he vowed to push for reforms to the global rules on refugees. The prime minister also said that failing to tackle illegal migration would “destroy the public’s faith” in politicians and “our very systems of government” during a conference organised by the far-right Italian leader Giorgia Meloni.In his speech in Rome, he warned that “enemy” states were deliberately “driving people to our shores to try and destabilise our societies”.And he invoked Margaret Thatcher’s “radicalism” as he tried to save his controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, which has come under fire from MPs on all sides of his party.His comments appeared to echo the harder language on migration of his sacked home secretary Suella Braverman. She was condemned last year for claiming the UK faced an “invasion” on its south coast. Critics accused him of using her “playbook” and said the Tories were in a “bidding war to see who can make the most toxic contribution to the debate”.A day after a migrant died while trying to cross the English Channel, Mr Sunak also warned that “if we don’t fix this problem now, the boats will keep coming and more lives will be lost at sea.”“If that requires us to update our laws and lead an international conversation to amend the post-war frameworks around asylum, we must do that,” he added.Government sources said this could include a host of post-war agreements such as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Refugee Convention, sentiments that were welcomed by Tory MPs on the right of the party. In Italy, Mr Sunak also held talks with Ms Meloni and Albania’s prime minister Edi Rama. With the former, he agreed to jointly fund a plan to return migrants in Tunisia, just across the sea from Italy, to their home countries. In his speech, Mr Sunak said no issue required “Thatcher’s radicalism and drive” more than tackling migration. As he praised the Italian prime minister, he said they were both “determined to break the business model” of these criminal gangs who traffic people in small boats.Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni with Rishi Sunak as he finishes his speech in Rome on SaturdayThe speech was delivered at the Atreju festival hosted by Ms Meloni’s populist Brothers of Italy party and bizarrely named after a character from the 1984 children’s fantasy film The NeverEnding Story. To applause, Mr Sunak told the crowd that if tackling illegal migration “requires us to update our laws and lead an international conversation to amend the post-war frameworks around asylum, we must do that. “Because if we don’t fix this problem now, the boats will keep coming and more lives will be lost at sea.”He added: “Our opponents just want to ignore this issue. They want to put their heads in the sand and hope it goes away. Well, let me tell them, it won’t.”Mr Sunak said a lack of action would mean “our enemies will see how unable we are to deal with this and so will increasingly use migration as a weapon: deliberately driving people to our shores to try and destabilise our societies.”Russia has already been accused by Finland of sending migrants to the European Union to destabilise the bloc.Mr Sunak said: “If we do not tackle this problem, the numbers will only grow. It will overwhelm our countries, and our capacity to help those who need our help most.“The costs of accommodating these people will anger our citizens, who won’t understand why their money should have to be spent on dealing with the consequences of this evil trade. It will destroy the public’s faith not just in us as politicians but in our very systems of government.”Suella Braverman claimed in a speech earlier this year that as many as 780 million people would be eligible to claim asylumLiberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael accused Mr Sunak of using Ms Braverman’s “playbook”. He said: “Rishi Sunak is so desperate he’s reaching for the Braverman playbook, using divisive rhetoric to try to cover up his failures on asylum.Infighting within the Conservative Party is now generating a bidding war to see who can make the most toxic contribution to the debate.“It is also a bit rich to say we need international cooperation when Conservative ministers are trashing the very treaties that we have signed up to to deal with this. Who would want to cooperate with a government that is happy to disregard our legal obligations? Instead of posturing, Rishi Sunak would do better to focus on tackling the asylum backlog that is leaving people in limbo and costing taxpayers billions.”But Mr Sunak’s comments were welcomed by MPs on the right of the Tory party. Danny Kruger, the leader of the New Conservatives group, said he was “very encouraged by the PM’s speech … suggesting an international agreement to rewrite refugee and human rights rules”. Earlier this year, Ms Braverman, while she was still home secretary, used a widely disparaged speech in the US to warn that as many as 780 million people would be eligible to claim asylum without radical reform of global refugee rules.She also faced a ferocious backlash after she singled out gay people to say “simply being gay, a woman or fearful of discrimination” was now effectively enough to qualify. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch as Rishi Sunak speaks at Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing political festival in Italy on Saturday, 16 December.The UK prime minister attended the Christmas party for young conservatives called “Atreju”, organised by the Brothers of Italy party.The festival, which has been running since 1998, is named after the main character in the fantasy book and film “The Neverending Story.”Mr Sunak was expected to be accompanied by Spanish far-right Vox party leader Santiago Abascal, and Albanian at the festival in Rome.It followed an appearance by Elon Musk at the annual event, which has been frequented by former Trump ally Steve Bannon and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban in the past.Mr Sunak will also hold talks with the Italian and Albanian leaders, in which illegal migration is expected to top the agenda.Downing Street said that discussions would focus on “joint efforts to tackle illegal immigration and organised crime”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA top judge has said anyone who lied to the phone hacking inquiry should be prosecuted for perjury after a court found there could be “no doubt” editors at Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) knew about intercepted voicemails. Sir Alan Moses, a former chair of press regulator the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), also hit out at the former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan, accusing him of epitomising the “shameful reaction of people who used to be editors”. After an extraordinary High Court ruling on Friday, Hollywood actor Steve Coogan also called for a police investigation. Prince Harry accused MGN of “vendetta journalism” after the judge in the case found that he was the victim of phone hacking and awarded him damages. The findings accepted evidence by royal author Omid Scobie that Mr Morgan had been aware of voicemail interception over a story about pop star Kylie Minogue. In response Mr Morgan launched a stinging attack on the prince, accusing him of attempting to “destroy the British monarchy”.In a statement outside his home, he also said: “I’ve never hacked a phone or told anyone else to and nobody has provided any actual evidence to prove that I did.”The judge also ruled that “extensive” phone hacking took place at the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror and the Sunday People, from 2006 to 2011.In his judgment, Mr Justice Fancourt concluded “there can be no doubt” that editors of MGN’s titles knew about voicemail interception but did not tell the company’s board or chief executive about it.Sir Alan, a former lord justice of appeal, warned: “The whole system has never held to account those in charge, the proprietors and the editors [… because they] poured money into settlement and only people like Prince Harry had the resources to pursue the case.”Prince Harry accused MGN of ‘vendetta journalism’ after the judge in the case found that he was the victim of phone hacking and awarded him damagesHe told the BBC’s Today programme: “If people lied to Sir Brian [Leveson, the chair of the official inquiry into phone hacking], then they ought to be prosecuted for perjury”. Mr Coogan also called for a police investigation. He told the same radio programme: “The police should investigate, they should do their job.”He also questioned what action Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer would take. “What is Keir Starmer going to do about it? Because let’s face, it he is going to be the next prime minister. Is he going to fold like a deckchair?” he said. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSadiq Khan has rejected a call to send cars that will be scrapped under his controversial Ulez scheme to Ukraine, according to reports. The mayor of Kyiv had urged the vehicles be transported to his war-torn country, where he said they could be used for a “variety of life-saving and transport roles”.But Mr Khan has said the proposal would not meet a “legal threshold” that requires that Londoners benefit, according to the Daily Telegraph. The city’s mayor expanded his car scrappage scheme in the face of intense pressure over the new ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez), designed to make the city’s air cleaner. Under the scheme the most polluting cars, which tend to be older models, must pay a daily charge of £12.50.But its unpopularity was seen as a major factor in Labour’s shock failure to win the Uxbridge by-election earlier this year. Within weeks of the Tory party’s surprise victory, Rishi Sunak declared he was “slamming the brakes on the war on motorists” and announced a raft of policies which led to accusations the government was watering down the UK’s ‘net zero’ environmental commitments. This week Mr Khan wrote to Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, to say the proposal did not meet the “legal threshold” that requires the scheme to benefit Londoners from an “economic, social and environmental perspective”, the paper said.Susan Hall, the Conservative candidate for mayor of London, said: “Sadiq Khan’s refusal to send [non-Ulez compliant] cars to Ukraine, citing a legal quirk, is absurd. Londoners who choose to scrap their cars should have the freedom to decide for themselves if they want their car sent to support Ukraine. Standing with Ukraine against tyrants like Putin is not only a moral imperative but also in the best interest of all Londoners and the global community.”Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (Yui Mok/PA)Richard Lofthouse, who works with Car for Ukraine, a volunteer group that delivers 4x4s and trucks to the frontlines of the war effort, accused Mr Khan of a “lack of political courage”.A City Hall spokesman said that “altering the Ulez scheme for the purposes of exporting vehicles to Ukraine is not possible within the current limits of the GLA Act”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer chancellor George Osborne has mocked the self-styled mafia “families” on the right of his party, saying they “blinked” when Rishi Sunak called their bluff over this week’s crunch Rwanda vote. The prime minister still faces a crucial showdown with his critics in the new year as he struggles to save his flagship “stop the boats” plan.But he survived a key Commons vote that could have plunged his government – and his leadership – into crisis. In the run-up, groups of Tory MPs dubbed the “five families” – after the mafia groupings in Mario Puzo’s The Godfather – pressed their party leader to toughen his legislation. But Mr Sunak held firm. “I thought the Conservative rebels overreached,” said Mr Osborne. “They were threatening to withhold their support. And they were demanding concessions from the prime minister.“And the prime minister didn’t give them any. He gave them a tiny, tiny, very thin ladder to climb down and he held the line and, as a result, they blinked.” He added: “And that’s not good. That’s not good if you’re trying to demonstrate the power of the Conservative right… it’s a really good example of that classic political mistake of issuing a threat that you’re not prepared to carry out.”Critical: George Osborne Mr Osborne added that he thought the five groupings were trying to “reopen the [Tory] civil war”, and invoked The Godfather to make fun of the climbdown. In the mafia sense, “going to the mattresses” is a term to describe war between different factions.During the conflict, those involved would escape to safe houses where they would sleep on mattresses rather than in beds, remaining alert to night-time attacks.Mr Osborne said: “I think to Rishi Sunak’s credit, he held the line and he called their bluff. He didn’t really change anything … but he stuck to his guns and then won pretty handsomely.“And the one thing those mafia families should never do is threaten to go to the mattresses and then lie down in bed.”Marlon Brando in ‘The Godfather’ Despite his victory, Mr Sunak still faces a battle within weeks to see off amendments brought by both the left and the right of the party. Even if the bill survives that hurdle, it is expected to then face difficulty in the House of Lords. No 10 refused to confirm the next vote on the Rwanda legislation will be scheduled for January, saying only the timing would be set out in the normal way. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA group of bereaved parents has accused the Government of “betrayal” over amendments to online safety laws around coroners accessing data following the death of a child.The Bereaved Families for Online Safety group has written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other ministers calling the proposed changes “callous”.Under the Online Safety Act, which passed into law earlier this year, coroners were to be given powers to work with online safety regulator Ofcom to access data from tech companies in the event a child has died and there is reasonable suspicion that the information is relevant to their death – an approach the families had campaigned for.However, the Government recently tabled amendments to the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill that the group claims water down this provision, to only include cases where a coroner suspects a child has taken their own life.The tragedy for each of us remains and we all share the need to understand more about their deaths, however they died. We find the changes the Government has made callousLetter from the Bereaved Families for Online Safety groupThe group has warned this would limit the ability of coroners to establish the full circumstances of a child’s death.The campaigners came together having each lost children due to exposure to online harms, in different circumstances, and campaigned for the provisions following their own difficulties accessing information.Their letter to the Prime Minister, Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan and Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk, says they are “devastated” to learn that “despite personal promises made to us in private meetings and assurances made at the despatch box”, the Government had “after the fact – placed limits on the agreed route”, adding “this is a betrayal”.“Our children died in different ways and in different circumstances relating to the digital world,” the letter says.“The tragedy for each of us remains and we all share the need to understand more about their deaths, however they died. We find the changes the Government has made callous.“Our lived experience is that coroners and police have persistently failed to get hold of the necessary data from tech companies for their investigations.“This routine failure is a miscarriage of justice and a source of great pain for many of us, and many more families bereaved by the loss of a child.”We know how important this is for families going through the most tragic circumstances. The Online Safety Act ensures information about any child who has died can be collected from social media platforms for coroner investigations, this is not changingGovernment spokespersonA Government spokesperson said: “We know how important this is for families going through the most tragic circumstances. The Online Safety Act ensures information about any child who has died can be collected from social media platforms for coroner investigations, this is not changing.“To make sure this works effectively, the changes we are making through the Data Protection Bill will ensure social media platforms keep the data coroners need where a child has taken their life, no matter what the circumstance.“This kind of data can already be retained and shared for police investigations where a serious crime like murder is committed, thanks to established police powers, but we continue to work with families to ensure we get this right.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email As the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to mount, a number of European Union leaders sought on Friday to use growing concern about Israel’s military offensive against Hamas to convince their partners to rally around a united call for a ceasefire.“The killing of innocent civilians really needs to stop,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said. He said the EU must unite “if we want to play a serious role in that conflict, and I think we have to because we will be wearing the consequences if things go further in a bad direction.”More than 18,700 Palestinians have now been killed, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, since Hamas rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7.Hamas killed about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and took about 240 hostages.The EU is the world’s biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians and has been trying to use its diplomatic leverage as a 27-nation bloc to encourage peace moves. But despite being Israel’s largest trading partner, the EU has mostly been ignored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Beyond this, the members have long-been divided over Israel and the Palestinians. Austria and Germany are among Israel’s most vocal supporters. Their leaders went to Israel to show solidarity after the assault. Spain and Ireland often focus on the plight of the Palestinian people.Hamas, for its part, is on the EU’s list of terrorist groups.Since its attack, the bloc has struggled to strike a balance between condemning the Hamas attacks, supporting Israel’s right to defend itself and ensuring that the rights of civilians on both sides are protected under international law.At the United Nations on Tuesday, an increasing number of EU members voted for a resolution calling for a ceasefire – a total of 17 – and fewer abstained. Still, Austria and the Czech Republic voted against.“We now have a clear majority of countries here in the European Union calling for a cease fire. I think that’s the view of the people of Europe as well,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said. “There’s no possible justification or excuse for what’s happening there.”But Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was less categorical. “In (the) U.N. we were not united as a European Union. But we will hear the worries and like we always do try to work out the compromises,” she told reporters at the EU’s summit in Brussels.The EU is more united around what should happen once the fighting stops for good.Mindful that resentment and conflict in the wider Middle East and Gulf regions have been fueled by decades of Israeli-Palestinian tensions, the bloc is exploring ways to realize a long-held EU ideal — two states living peacefully side by side.The EU has for years tried to promote the idea of an Israeli and a Palestinian state with borders set mostly as they were in 1967 — before Israel captured and occupied the West Bank and Gaza — with some land swaps agreed between them. Both would have Jerusalem as their shared capital.Top EU officials concede that their international peace efforts so far haven’t been effective. This is the fifth war between Israel and Hamas, and the number of deaths in Gaza far exceeds the combined tally of those killed in the previous four, which is estimated to be around 4,000.An internal discussion paper on the way ahead – a text seen by The Associated Press – insists that the EU must develop a “comprehensive approach.” Officials believe a “whole of Palestine” approach that has Gaza as part of a future Palestinian state remains the most viable option.The capability of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank but not Gaza, is “of key importance for the viability and legitimacy” of a two-state solution. It noted that Arab states will only get involved if their efforts lead to “a genuine peace process that results in the two-state solution.”EU efforts, the document said, should focus on support for an international conference, only “not as a singular event but as part of a peace process plan.” Israeli and Palestinian foreign ministers should be separately invited to EU meetings “to maintain the dialogue with both.”But in the region, talk of a two-state solution conjures up images of years of diplomatic failures, and for many in mourning it’s simply too early to talk about peace. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is considering a crackdown on social media use for teenagers under the age of 16, with a ban said to be one of the options on the table.Ministers are mulling further action to limit children’s exposure to harmful content, despite bringing in new controls with the Online Safety Act earlier this year.The government is reportedly ready to begin a consultation in January to look at the evidence of harms to young teens from using social media.A ban on use by under-16s and improved parental controls are options under discussion, according to Bloomberg.However, a government spokesperson played down the prospect of anything resembling a full ban. “From our point of view, we’re looking at ways to empower parents rather than crack down on anything in particular,” the spokesperson said.They added: “We’ve identified that there is a gap in research, so we’ll be looking at what more research into it needs to be done, but nothing is yet signed off by ministers.”It comes as schools minister Damian Hinds urged Facebook owner Meta to “rethink its decision” to bring in encrypted messaging amid fears for the safety of children.Government urges Facebook owner to ‘think again’ on encrypted messagingThe National Crime Agency has warned that the encryption move risks making it more difficult to stop paedophiles.Mr Hinds told Times Radio: “It’s not about protecting people’s privacy … This is really a question about ability to intercept and to ultimately investigate, bring to justice people who are engaging in child abuse.”The Online Safety Act means social media platforms will be required to prevent and rapidly remove illegal content, and stop children from seeing harmful material such as bullying or self-harm content by enforcing age limits and using age-checking measures.Those that fail to comply will face fines of up to £18m or 10 per cent of annual global revenue, meaning potentially billions of pounds for the biggest firms.Science minister Andrew Griffith said on Friday that reports that government was considering further action to curb social media use among children was only “speculation”.But Mr Griffith appeared to confirm some more changes to “help parents” were under consideration – while arguing that Mr Sunak’s administration “isn’t a government that philosophically bans things for the sake of it”.Asked whether he could provide more details following reports that restrictions could be placed on under-16s using social media platforms, Mr Griffith told LBC: “At this point, it is about a consultation that is rumoured to happen in the new year.”He added: “It is about getting that balance. I know parents worry about these things, some bad things happen out there on social media – if we can help parents, then we will, but it is always about a balance.”The Conservative minister said it was “right you don’t just charge off and do these things”, and that industry needed to be consulted about any potential new social media restrictions More