More stories

  • in

    Chris Philp’s history of gaffes as Tory MP asks if Congo is different country to Rwanda

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThey say God loves a trier and Chris Philp, the minister for policing, is one Tory who can never be accused of failing to put in a shift, frequently appearing in the media to dutifully defend the latest government line on the issue of the day.While the MP for Croydon South is not afraid to get his hands dirty, evidenced by his loyal defences of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss in the darkest hours of their respective premierships, some critics have suggested he does not share the communication skills and political nous displayed by some of his front bench colleagues.Alas, the former Home Office minister was left blushing again last night during an appearance on the BBC. There were audible gasps – and a very confused-looking shadow health secretary – when Mr Philp asked whether Rwanda and Congo were different countries, following what sounded like a relatively straight forward question from a Question Time audience member.The gaffe was not Mr Philp’s first and unlikely to be his last, given the ambitious minister’s propensity to get out on the airwaves and put his shoulder behind the government wheel.Chris Philp on Question Time More

  • in

    Under-pressure Scottish leader cancels major speech as confidence vote in his government looms

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Scotland’s leader cancelled a speech Friday as he fights for his political life in the wake of his decision to pull the plug on a three-year power-sharing agreement, a move that has exposed the government to peril.First Minister Humza Yousaf of the Scottish National Party was due to deliver a major speech on Scotland’s independence from the U.K., but that has been cancelled following the furor surrounding his decision to tear up the power-sharing deal with the much smaller Greens on Thursday.Without the support of the Greens, the SNP is two seats shy of a majority of lawmakers in the Scottish Parliament, meaning it can only get legislation and its budget through with the support of other parties. Although Scotland is part of the U.K., its government has widespread powers, including over health and education, as well as some limited powers over the raising of revenues.On Friday, Scottish Labour, which is connected to the U.K.’s main opposition Labour Party, said it wants to lodgea vote of no confidence in the Scottish government next week.If all opposition legislators, which now include the Greens, vote against the government, it could set off a chain of events that leads to early elections in Scotland, which are not due until 2026. Ministers in the government would be required to resign immediately and the legislature in Edinburgh would then have 28 days to see if it can create a new government with majority support. If that isn’t possible, then early elections would be triggered.“It’s a matter now of when, not if, Humza Yousaf will step down as first minister,” said Scottish Labour’s leader Anas Sarwar. “It would be untenable for the SNP to assume it can impose another unelected first minister on Scotland.”Yousaf, who replaced long-time leader Nicola Sturgeon in March 2023, may need the vote of a former SNP lawmaker, Ash Regan, to survive. She has indicated that she would seek to extract a price from Yousaf in order to back him and the government in the no-confidence votes.Of Parliament’s 129 seats, the SNP holds 63. Regan’s backing would result in the government having 64 votes at least. In the event of a tie, the chamber’s presiding officer — Scotland’s equivalent to the speaker — would be expected to vote in favor of the status quo.It could well be that tight. The Greens, furious at their ejection from government, have already said they will vote against Yousaf himself, along with the other main opposition parties, including the Conservatives and Labour. It’s not clear yet whether they will vote against the government as a whole or whether they will abstain.Relations between the SNP and the Greens, which both back Scotland’s independence from the U.K., soured recently following a clash over climate change policies. The SNP, which has dominated Scottish politics since 2007 even though it lost 2014’s independence referendum, has been rocked by the news earlier this month that Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, has been charged with embezzlement in an investigation into the party’s finances.Opinion polls are showing that the SNP, which has dominated politics in Scotland since 2007, is facing stiff opposition from the Labour Party as the U.K. general election draws nearer. The vote will take place sometime in the coming months. More

  • in

    Excruciating Question Time moment as minister Chris Philp asks if Congo is different country to Rwanda

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailHome Office minister Chris Philp has been ridiculed for asking whether Rwanda and Congo were different countries.The policing minister’s blunder came on Thursday evening as he was being questioned on the government’s controversial deportation policy on BBC Question Time.An audience member asked Mr Philp whether his family members from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) would be sent to Rwanda under the scheme had they been subject to the plans.Policing minister Chris Philp has been ridiculed after he asked whether Rwanda and Congo were different countries More

  • in

    Count Binface vows to rename London Bridge after Phoebe Waller-Bridge if elected mayor

    Count Binface has vowed to rename London Bridge after Phoebe Waller-Bridge if he wins May’s mayoral election.His other flagship policies for the capital include price-capping croissants at £1.10 and granting grade-one listed status to Claudia Winkleman’s fringe.The self-described intergalactic space warrior running in London’s election, who says he is 5,072 years old in Earth years, has also pledged to make Thames Water bosses “take a dip” in the river.The Count, who previously ran to be mayor in 2021, has hinted that he may stand in Rishi Sunak’s seat in North Yorkshire in the general election. More

  • in

    Watch: Chris Philp appears to mix up African countries in Question Time gaffe

    Tory minister Chris Philp appeared to confuse two African countries on BBC Question Time on Thursday, 25 April.The MP for Croydon South seemed to ask whether “Rwanda is a different country to Congo” in response to a question from an audience member who said he came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.As the audience member asked if family members had come from Goma on a crossing would they then be sent back to the country they are supposedly warring – Rwanda – Mr Philp replied: “No, I think there’s an exclusion on people from Rwanda being sent to Rwanda.”After objections, Mr Philp appeared to ask: “Rwanda is a different country to Congo isn’t it? More

  • in

    Rwanda bill criticised by Irish foreign minister as ‘fearful’ migrants cross border

    Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightIreland’s Foreign Affairs Minister criticised the UK’s Rwanda deportation policy as a “knee-jerk reaction” to failing to control migration after Brexit.Deputy prime minister Micheal Martin added that the “Rwanda effect” had impacted Ireland following the Irish government’s claim that 80 per cent of asylum seekers in the country had crossed the border from Northern Ireland.“I believe the Rwanda effect is impacting on Ireland. And I think that didn’t happen today or yesterday. It’s been growing since the first iteration and publication of that strategy around Rwanda,” Mr Martin said on a visit to Amman, Jordan.“I don’t think anyone’s gone to Rwanda yet, but to me, it’s reflective of a policy. It’s more about the rhetoric and the politics than about having any real impact.”He added: “But it is having real impact on Ireland now in terms of people being fearful in the UK – maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have.”“So, they’re leaving the UK and they are taking opportunities to come to Ireland, crossing the border to get sanctuary here and within the European Union as opposed to the potential of being deported to Rwanda.”Emmanuel Macron also denounced Rishi Sunak’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda More

  • in

    Policing Minister Chris Philp asks if Congo is different country from Rwanda

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailPolicing minister Chris Philp has faced ridicule after he asked whether Rwanda and Congo were different countries.The conservative minister’s blunder came on Thursday evening as he was being questioned on the government’s controversial deportation policy on BBC Question Time.An audience member asked Mr Philp whether his family members from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) would be sent to Rwanda under the scheme had they been subject to the plans.The member of the public explained the volatile situation between the DRC and Rwanda as he expressed concerns about the idea of Congolese people being sent to a hostile country.Referring to the city of Goma in DRC, he asked: “Had my family members come from Goma on a crossing right now, would they then be sent back to the country that they’re supposedly warring with?”However, the Tory MP seemed unable to grasp that the two countries were separate.“No, I think there’s an exclusion on people from Rwanda being sent to Rwanda,” Mr Philp told the audience.“They’re not from Rwanda, they’re from Congo,” the audience member replied.Mr Philip seemed puzzled, and then asked: “Well … Rwanda is a different country to Congo, isn’t it?”The minister’s bizarre question was met with visible bewilderment from the audience and fellow panellist Labour’s Wes Streeting.Some onlookers were seen laughing while others shook their heads in disbelief.Mr Philp went on to clarify: “There is a clause in the legislation that says if somebody would suffer seriously irreversible harm by being sent somewhere they wouldn’t be sent.”The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill became an Act of Parliament on Thursday after being granted royal assent More

  • in

    Europe is ‘too slow and lacks ambition’ in the face of global threats, says Macron

    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 emailsEmmanuel Macron has urged Europe to improve its defences and cut red tape as it faces existential threats from Russian aggression and American isolationism.In a nearly two-hour speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris, Mr Macron claimed the 27-member European Union (EU) was “too slow and lacks ambition” before demanding that the bloc does not become a “vassal of the United States”.“Our Europe is mortal. It could die,” the French president said. “We are not equipped to face the risks. We must produce more, we must produce faster and we must produce as Europeans.”Thursday’s speech was billed by Mr Macron’s advisers as France’s contribution to the EU’s strategic agenda for the next five years. The agenda is due to be decided after the European elections, which will take place in early June.Nationalist right-wing parties, including the French opposition party National Rally, run by presidential rival Marine Le Pen, are currently leading in the polls.Mr Macron hopes his speech will have the same impact as a similar address at the Sorbonne he made seven years ago that prefigured some significant EU policy shifts.Since then, much has changed, with geopolitical challenges including the war in Gaza, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and disputes between China and the United States.His stance on ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin have also shifted in the 26 months since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and his speech on Thursday was centred on the new European security order.Having originally hoped to maintain open lines with Putin in the very early stages of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Mr Macron has since become one of Europe’s most outspoken supporters of Ukraine.Vladimir Putin, right, Emmanuel Macron, center, and Volodymyr Zelensky pictured at tge Elysee Palace in Paris in December 2019“The basic condition for our security is for Russia not to win,” he said. “Europe needs to be able to protect what is dear to it alongside its allies … Do we need to have an anti-missile shield or anti-missile system? Maybe.“When we have a neighbouring country that has become aggressive and seems to have no limits and that has ballistic missiles [and has] been innovating a lot when it comes to the technology and the range of these missiles, we see that we absolutely have to set up this strategic concept of credible defence.”His comments come weeks after he called for European countries to be prepared to send troops into Ukraine. Though the remarks were later rolled back, they marked a shift in the French leader’s rhetoric – instead of indicating to Russia what Europe is unwilling to do, Ukraine’s allies should keep all options open.Despite often clashing with Mr Macron on issues of defence, including on whether to send troops to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz responded positively to the French leader’s latest remarks.“France and Germany want Europe to be strong,” Mr Scholz said. “Your speech contains good ideas on how we can achieve this.”Soldiers of the Czech army are seen during the international Nato military exercise in eastern Germany More