Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailNew laws designed to slash the number of migrants by 300,000 a year risk splitting up families already living in the UK. Brits could see their foreign partners told to leave the country the next time their visa comes up for renewal – if their household does not earn £38,700, No 10 said.The move is part of plans to cut net migration after it soared to nearly three-quarters of a million in 2022.Experts, however, warned the planned crackdown was causing distress for many. Downing Street defended the policy, saying it was right that “if you are bringing someone into the country you are able to support them”. Under the plans unveiled on Monday those wishing to bring their spouse to the UK will now have to earn £38,700, a significant increase on the current figure of £18,600, and what has been described as a tax on love. Former Tory minister Gavin Barwell said it was “both morally wrong and unconservative to say that only the wealthiest can fall in love, marry someone and then bring them to the UK”.As well as applying to those yet to come to the UK, No 10 confirmed the new higher figure risks affecting those already here. Asked if it would apply to partners when they came to renew their visas, No 10 said the change was “not retrospective, but it would apply to renewals in the future”. At that point, people would be expected to “meet the visa requirements of the day”. The prime minister’s official spokesperson added: “People always have a set length of time for their visas and will be aware at the conclusion of that visa time that they don’t have a guarantee that they will obviously remain in the country.” The income level had not been updated for 10 years, No 10 said. There are exemptions, but these will be on a case-by-case basis, and it stressed that the amount could be spread across the household. Madeleine Sumption, the director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said the changes would make the UK an outlier among western nations. “This is definitely completely different to what any other high-income country does,” she said. Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz, from migrant rights organisation Praxis, said she was concerned for families who feel “forced to make horrible decisions” due to the changes.The changes are due to come into effect in spring and will apply when existing visas for foreign spouses come up for renewal. The prime minister’s spokesperson said on Tuesday: “The family immigration rules contain a provision for exceptional circumstances where there would be unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant, their partner, a relevant child or another family member if their application were to be refused.”No examples were given and the spokesperson said applications would be considered on a “case-by-case basis”.Official figures from April show the median gross annual earnings for full-time employees in the UK was £34,963. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailHome secretary James Cleverly has hailed yet another deal with Rwanda as the way to rescue the government’s thwarted plan to stop the boats – only for it to be denounced as a “gross political fantasy”. The embattled cabinet minister said there was now no credible legal reason for the policy to continue to be blocked after he flew to Kigali to sign a new treaty.But Mr Cleverly still could not guarantee flights will depart next spring, as Rishi Sunak hopes, as he became the third minister in less than two years to sign an agreement with the African nation.Tory MPs warned they would examine new emergency legislation on Rwanda – due to be published within days to determine the country is a safe destination – to ensure planes carrying asylum seekers take off. It came as the prime minister faces a major Commons revolt from two sides of his party over the planned new law. MPs on the right of the party are pushing the PM to use it to opt out of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) – warning he must go for the “full fat” version to stop judges intervening. Home secretary James Cleverly arrives at Kigali International AirportBut senior Tory moderates are also warning Mr Sunak they may not support his legislation if he does try to flout the ECHR, arguing that it would be “a mistake” that doesn’t command public support. As the treaty was unveiled, it emerged that: Asylum seekers sent to Rwanda who go on to commit serious crimes while there could end up back in the UK UK taxpayers will have to pay more on top of the £140m already spent on a scheme which has yet to send a single asylum seeker to the east-central African country The UK will take some of Rwanda’s refugees under the plans, a measure contained in the original agreementRwanda will still have a veto over which asylum seekers it accepts Those sent there will be offered support and accommodation by the UK for five years Under the treaty, they will not be sent on to a third country, such as the one from which they fled – the main criticism of the Supreme Court – and will stay in Rwanda Mr Sunak announced the new treaty – and the emergency legislation – in the wake of a damning Supreme Court judgment which ruled his plans unlawful.In the Rwandan capital, Mr Cleverly praised the new deal, saying: “We feel very strongly this treaty addresses all of the issues of their lordships in the Supreme Court.”But he could not guarantee when the first flight of asylum seekers would take off.The home secretary added: “We want to see this part of our wider migration plan up and running as quickly as possible.” James Cleverly during Tuesday’s press conference in Kigali Under the treaty, those sent to Rwanda will stay there, no matter the outcome of their asylum application. The Supreme Court had warned that under the previous system, vulnerable refugees risked being erroneously sent back to the countries from which they had fled, where they would face persecution. But the court also questioned whether undertakings given by Rwanda could be relied upon. Also included in the treaty are plans for UK lawyers to be sent to Rwanda to help process claims and ensure appeals are granted correctly. An independent monitoring committee will assess the processing of asylum claims and the treatment and support for individuals for up to five years. It will also establish a new whistleblowing system to allow asylum seekers sent to Rwanda to lodge confidential complaints.Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper accused Mr Cleverly of being the third home secretary in 18 months to take a trip to Rwanda “for a photo op”. Priti Patel signed the initial deal last April while his predecessor, Suella Braverman, visited Kigali earlier this year. “More home secretaries than asylum seekers have been sent there and the scheme is badly failing,” Ms Cooper said. “We know … even if it ever does get off the ground, it will only cover a very small number of people when over 1,000 people arrived in small boats last week alone.”The government’s former top lawyer Jonathan Jones questioned whether ministers were really as confident as they suggested.He said: “If the government were really confident that the treaty did the trick and Rwanda will now be “safe”, it could be confident of winning any further court challenge and wouldn’t need to change the law as well.But the government has said it will table a Bill which will likely tell the courts that Rwanda is now to be treated as “safe” for the purposes of asylum claims.”Lib Dem home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: “It was obvious that this policy was destined to fail from the beginning, and this couldn’t have been made any clearer than the Supreme Court ruling.“The Conservatives have already spent far too much time, energy and money on this failing policy. It’s time for James Cleverly to get serious and get on with fixing the broken asylum system. “Tackling the sky-high asylum backlog and creating safe and legal routes for sanctuary will make far more progress towards that than this pet project policy ever could.”Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plans are being closely watched by his MPsThe Law Society of England and Wales was sceptical about Mr Cleverly’s assurances, saying it “remains unclear” how the treaty will overcome the Supreme Court ruling based on a “well-established principle of international law”.Nick Emmerson, the president of the professional association representing solicitors, argued that neither the deal nor new legislation “can overnight provide adequate means of safeguarding the rights of people removed to Rwanda”.Steve Valdez-Symonds, from Amnesty International, said: “With this treaty, ministers are once again doubling down on a fundamentally reckless policy of not processing asylum claims made in the UK – even while expecting other countries to deal with the asylum claims they receive. “The policy of not processing claims has already created a massive, costly and inhuman backlog, in which tens of thousands of people are now simply stuck in limbo.“The gross political fantasy that Rwanda can simply receive these people from the UK is utterly immoral, wholly impractical and sets a terrible example on the world stage.” Enver Solomon, from the Refugee Council, said: “It’s time for the government to admit that the Rwanda plan just isn’t the right way forward. Instead, we need to develop a fair and compassionate approach to refugee protection that focuses on providing safe routes and a fair hearing for those seeking safety in the UK.”Last month, former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption accused the government of trying to “change the facts by law” by declaring Rwanda safe. He also said the scheme was “probably dead”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailHome secretary James Cleverly has signed a new treaty with Rwanda in a bid to rescue Rishi Sunak’s thwarted deportation plan.Emergency legislation is also planned soon, as Mr Sunak tries to assert that Rwanda is a safe country to send migrants arriving on small boats.But senior Tories on the right are plotting a rebellion and are pushing the PM to opt out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – warning that it’s “three strikes and you’re out” after previous attempts to get Rwanda flights started failed.The Independent understands a group of around 35 MPs in the hardline New Conservatives group reportedly met with other colleagues on the right on Monday night to discuss whether to vote against Mr Sunak’s legislation if it is not deemed tough enough.It poses a real threat to Mr Sunak’s plans – since only around 25 to 30 Tory MPs would be needed to vote with the opposition to defeat his ‘plan B’ legislation.Mr Cleverly travelled to Kigali on Tuesday, as the PM attempts to make his plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda legally sound after the Supreme Court’s ruling against the policy.Legal experts and charities believe the attempt to get flights started before the 2024 election will fail – with the government’s own lawyers said to be pessimistic about efforts to get around human rights law.Mr Cleverly, who met his counterpart Vincent Biruta to sign the treaty, hopes the upgraded agreement, which gives it the status of international law, will address the problems that led the UK’s highest court to rule the “offshoring” deportation scheme unlawful.But in Kigali, Mr Cleverly could not guarantee the first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda will take off in the spring. as the government aims.James Cleverly meets British High Commissioner to Rwanda, Omar Daair The home secretary said: “We want to see this part of our wider migration plan up and running as quickly as possible. We feel very strongly this treaty addresses all of the issues of their lordships in the Supreme Court.”He said he could not see any credible reason” to question Rwanda’s track record, adding the planned new domestic legislation would come “soon”.UK lawyers are to be sent to Rwanda to help process claims and ensure appeals are granted correctly. But the Kigali government is unlikely to accept any arrangement which would look like colonial-style legal interference.Ministers said the new treaty would ensure those relocated to Rwanda are not at risk of being sent back to countries they have fled – an act known as refoulement – including through a new appeal body.An independent monitoring committee will assess the processing of asylum claims and the treatment and support for individuals for up to 5 years. It will also establish a new whistleblowing system to allow asylum seekers sent to Rwanda to lodge confidential complaints.James Cleverly and Rwandan foreign minister Vincent BirutaJohn Hayes MP, sacked home secretary Suella Braverman’s mentor, is demanding that the Tory leader opt out of the ECHR in its emergency Rwanda legislation.“We need severe measures. It important to get those flights off to Rwanda – so we need to be really tough,” the leader of the Tories’ Commons Sense Group told The Independent.Senior Tory Mark Francois also warned Mr Sunak that it could be “three strikes and you’re out” – urging the PM to to ignore the ECHR in the emergency Rwanda legislation. He told GB News: “Rishi promised to stop the boats but … he hasn’t has he? We’ve had two goes before. Now it’s three strikes and you’re out”.Immigration minister Robert Jenrick claimed that he is confident Rwanda flights will take off before the general election – as he described illegal migrants as having “broken into” the UK.The Supreme Court ruling has a major impact on Rishi Sunak’s promise to ‘stop the boats’The hardline cabinet minister said “it’s profoundly wrong” for people to be entering the UK illegally on small boats, telling Sky News: “If you or I crossed an international border, or literally broke into another country, we would expect to be treated very seriously.”Mr Jenrick said the emergency legislation would be set out in parliament “shortly” after Mr Cleverly signs the new treaty. However, senior civil servants at the Home Office are said to have warned No 10 that its Rwanda legislation is destined to fail.Government lawyers are reportedly refusing to sanction the most draconian version, that would opt out of the ECHR by using a “notwithstanding” clause to direct UK judges to ignore it in asylum cases.Tory moderate Sir Robert Buckland warned that opting out of the ECHR would be “foolish and rash” and would endanger the Good Friday Agreement. He told the BBC it would be “a very un-Conservative step”.Sacked home secretary Suella Braverman visisted Rwanda in April The Law Society’s president Nick Emmerson said: “The suggestion of stationing British lawyers in Rwanda implies a lack of confidence in how cases would be handled there …. The government needs to admit the scheme is likely beyond repair.”The Freedom from Torture campaign group said the it was “shameful” to strike a new treaty with Rwanda after the Supreme Court ruled the scheme unlawful. “No amount of tinkering will change the fundamental fact that this ‘cash for humans’ deal is immoral … it needs to be shelved once and for all,” they said.Former Boris Johnson adviser Dominic Cummings said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the Rwanda “trick” was never supposed to happen. “But because Tory-SW1 world is so insane, Boris’s trick to divert them has actually worked far better than he planned.”There has been speculation that Rwanda is pushing for more money on top of the £140m already committed. The Sunday Times reported that Kigali is to be given a £15m top-up payment. But No 10 has insisted there had been no demand for extra money from Rwanda.It comes as a new poll Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that more people who voted for the Tories in 2019 plan to support Reform UK than Labour. Some 15 per cent plan to ditch the Conservatives for the hard right party, while only 13 per cent will go to Labour, the survey found.In a bid to cut record-high net migration, Mr Cleverly increased the salary threshold for foreign workers from £26,200 to £38,700 as part of a package set to come into force in April.The measures announced on Monday also banned overseas social care staff from bringing dependants to the UK and the rule allowing the most-needed professions to be hired at 20 per cent below the going rate would also be scrapped.Mr Jenrick has said more measures could be required to bring down legal migration. “You’re right to say that more things may need to be done, but without question this is a big step forward,” he told GB News on Tuesday.In remarks sure to raise eyebrows, the immigration minister also said there would be “merits” to introducing an annual, “Australia-style” cap on net migration – a move demanded by Ms Braverman. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBoris Johnson faces a mammoth task to salvage his reputation as he finally appears before Covid inquiry this week.The former prime minister is expected to apologise for “unquestionably” making mistakes in his government’s handling of the pandemic in two marathon evidence sessions on Wednesday and Thursday.However, Mr Johnson is also set to argue that his controversial decisions ended up saving “tens if not hundreds of thousands of lives”.It comes after an explosive two months at the inquiry, which heard Mr Johnson was “obsessed with older people accepting their fate” and dying from the virus; entrusted his top adviser Dominic Cummings with too much power; and wanted to “let the bodies pile high” to avoid imposing a second Covid lockdown.The former PM was also referred to as the “trolley” for his chaotic decision-making by “pretty much everyone” during the pandemic, while he dubbed the Treasury the “pro-death squad” because it wanted to ease lockdown restrictions.As we hear from the man in charge of the UK’s Covid response, I’m on hand to answer any of your questions about the former prime minister and the Covid inquiry.Is Mr Johnson coming across well? How does his evidence play politically? And how is the timing of his appearance significant for the Tory party?Also, what’s next for Boris – could he ever return to frontline politics?And perhaps most importantly, what are the consequences of the inquiry for Mr Johnson and his former cabinet?If you have a question for me, submit it now, or when I join you live at 11am on Thursday 5 December for the “Ask Me Anything” event.Register to submit your question in the comments box under this article. If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments section to leave your question. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Don’t worry if you can’t see your question – they may be hidden until I join the conversation to answer them. Then join us live on this page at 11am as I tackle as many questions as I can. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch again as James Cleverly holds a press conference in Rwanda on Tuesday 5 December, after he signed a fresh treaty with the nation, amid efforts to get the government’s stalled asylum deal off the ground.The home secretary has travelled to Kigali as Rishi Sunak bids to make the plan to send migrants to the African nation legally watertight after the Supreme Court’s ruling against the policy.Domestic legislation, which will be rushed through parliament to assert Rwanda is a safe destination for asylum seekers who arrive in Britain, is also planned.Mr Cleverly met his counterpart, Vincent Biruta, to sign the treaty and discuss key next steps on the so-called migration and economic development partnership.He also visited the genocide memorial in Kigali on Tuesday morning, during his first overseas visit as home secretary.Ministers hope the upgraded agreement, along with “emergency” legislation at home, will address the issues that led the UK’s highest court to rule the Rwanda scheme unlawful.“We are clear that Rwanda is a safe country, and we are working at pace to move forward with this partnership to stop the boats and save lives,” Mr Cleverly said before his arrival. More