UK Politics

A Tory immigration minister was grilled on immigration figures as migrants were seen travelling through the Channel on a boat live on air.Michael Tomlinson was questioned on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday, 23 April, after Rishi Sunak’s controversial Rwanda bill was given the green light in parliament the day before.“People crossing the channel… have known that they could be sent to Rwanda… What we’re seeing right now… on BBC Breakfast is people still prepared to take that risk. They are not deterred,” host Jon Kay said.Mr Tomlinson pushed back that “the deterrent effect” would take time.“Hardly anyone is getting on a small boat now from Albania because the deterrent effect has come in,” he insisted. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBoris Johnson said he “wished he was black” on the night Barack Obama was elected as US president, a journalist has claimed.Afua Hirsch, of British-Ghanian heritage, claimed Mr Johnson demanded to know where she was from at a drinks party on the night of Obama’s victory in 2008.In an interview with Mr Johnson’s ex-wife Marina Wheeler, the journalist wrote: “She was still married to Johnson, who was there with her, and who – true to form – made some problematic remarks about my own racial heritage.“After demanding to know ‘where I was from’, he commented that he ‘wished he was Black’,” Ms Hirsch wrote in Vogue magazine.Ms Hirsch said his ex-wife couldn’t remember the interaction, but “groaned” when told about it.Ms Wheeler, 59, said her divorce from Mr Johnson, which was finalised in 2020 after separating in 2018, did “free” her. “I suppose I do feel that, as you become more senior as a woman, and, I guess, post-divorce, if I’m honest, it does free you up,” she said. “You can look at the world again and do things that can make a difference.”Afua Hirsch, of British-Ghanian heritage, claimed Mr Johnson made the comments at a drinks party in 2008 More

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has said not a single asylum seeker will go to Rwanda under a Labour government.The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration Bill) cleared Parliament shortly after midnight today (23 April) after peers backed down, ending resistance to the scheme.The prime minister hopes the Rwanda scheme will deter migrants from seeking to cross the English Channel, Ms Cooper called the Bill “an extortionately expensive gimmick rather than a serious plan to tackle dangerous boat crossings” during an interview with Sky News.When asked by presenter Kay Burley: “So no one during a Labour government will go to Rwanda?”, Ms Cooper replied: “No, that’s not our plan.” More

Power briefly went off in the House of Lords on Monday evening (22 April) as a peer was mid-way through a speech.Lights in the chamber flickered before going out while Lord Bellamy was speaking at the despatch box.After television screens and microphones also turned off, the justice minister prompted laughter as he joked: “I must have said something controversial.”Lord Bellamy was able to continue reading his notes by using a table lamp during a short debate on support for parents considering separation.It came amid the late-night back-and-forth between the Commons and Lords over amendments to Rishi Sunak’s controversial Rwanda bill. More

A Tory immigration minister appeared to bang the table during a heated BBC Radio 4 interview discussing Rishi Sunak’s controversial Rwanda bill.Michael Tomlinson spoke to Mishal Husain a day after the plan to deport asylum seekers to the African nation was given the green light after peers caved to pressure.When pressed on whether victims of torture or human trafficking would be sent to Rwanda under the legislation, Mr Tomlinson insisted the nation is a “safe country.””You could ask me an infinite number of challenges… You’re not going to get that clarity because the act hasn’t yet come into force,” he added in the tense exchange. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Prime Minister has said “nothing will stand in our way” of getting flights off the ground after the Government’s Rwanda deportation plan passed through Parliament.The House of Lords had been engaged in an extended tussle over the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill on Monday, sending it back to the Commons five times in a bid to secure changes.The unelected chamber ended the deadlock after MPs rejected a requirement that Rwanda could not be treated as safe until the secretary of state, having consulted an independent monitoring body, made a statement to Parliament to that effect.So what happens now the flagship Rwanda plan has passed the Lords?There will reportedly be around 150 asylum seekers on the first two or three flights to Kigali, with flights expected to start in July. “We have prepared for this moment… We’ve increased detention spaces to 2,200,” Mr Sunak announced. The prime minister said the government had put an airfield on standby and booked commercial charter planes for specific slots to remove the asylum seekers to Rwanda. He added that 500 highly trained individuals had been found to escort “migrants all the way to Rwanda” with 300 more trained in the coming weeks. The prime minister said that the first flight would leave in 10-12 weeks and he committed to regular flights over the summer “until the boats are stopped”. Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill is finally set to become law after weeks of parliamentary deadlock, paving the way for deportation flights to get off the ground More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill will become law after a night of parliamentary ping-pong between the Commons and Lords.MPs and Lords were at loggerheads on Monday night over an amendments made by peers to the prime minister’s Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill. Peers finally caved with Lord Anderson of Ipswich saying: “The time has now come to acknowledge the primacy of the elected house”.Downing Street had warned it would not make concessions over the amendments, which saw peers demand that an independent monitoring committee must declare Rwanda safe before asylum-seekers can be sent there. Peers caved on a separate amendment that called for Afghans who served with British forces to be exempt from deportations.It came after Mr Sunak claimed that flights to Rwanda had been booked and would take off by July, “no ifs, no buts”, despite his struggles in passing the necessary legislation into law and a host of remaining practical barriers in physically implementing the policies.Mr Sunak told a surprise No 10 press conference on Monday that the first flight carrying asylum seekers would leave for Rwanda in 10-12 weeks, hours before the Bill appeared before parliamentarians once again.Peers had repeatedly blocked the legislation with a series of amendments, stretching debate on the “emergency legislation” over more than four months and delaying flights taking asylum seekers to Rwanda.You can use the tool below to find out how your MP voted on the legislation:If your MP is listed as voting ‘aye’ they have voted for the Rwanda bill, and if they are listed as ‘no’ they will have voted against it. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailParliament has finally passed Rishi Sunak’s “emergency” Rwanda bill but the controversial legislation is set to run into legal challenges that could still delay flights. Mr Sunak has said that the first flight would take off in 10-12 weeks and regular trips will take place over the Summer “until the boats are stopped.” His plan was finally given the green light on Monday evening after peers in the House of Lords gave up their fight with MPs over amending the legislation. Lords had been trying to force the government to exempt Afghans who supported British troops overseas from being deported to Rwanda. They had also pushed an amendment that would have made sure the terms of the UK’s treaty with Rwanda were met and that it was assessed to be a safe country before flights took off. However the government refused to cave to pressure and didn’t include the changes to the bill. Mr Sunak had already paid £240m to Rwanda by the end of 2023, and spending watchdog the National Audit Office says that the total cost of the plan will be at least £370m over five years. Labour peers didn’t press the Afghan amendment on Monday night after Home Office minister Lord Sharpe said they would not deport members of Afghan special forces units who had been given the right to live and work in the UK by the Ministry of Defence. But they did vote in favour once for the amendment on assessing the safety of Rwanda. Home Office minister Michael Tomlinson told the Lords that their final amendment was “not necessary”, adding: “These amendments have already been rejected, enough is enough.”Labour’s shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinncok said it was “staggering” that the government refused to concede on the clause ensuring the safety of Rwanda. He added: “This is a post-truth bill. You cannot possibly legislate for something which is in the lap of the gods”. SNP MP Alison Thewliss criticised Labour peers for not pushing the flights exemption for Afghans who supported British troops. She told MPs: “If they think this is some kind of concession I’ve got some magic beans to sell them.”Rishi Sunak had pledged to get flights to Rwanda off this Spring but now says planes will get off the ground in July More