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    Rwanda: Rishi Sunak avoids answering if he has backup plan if scheme fails

    Rishi Sunak was avoided a question at the Liaison Committee on whether the government has a “plan B” if the government’s appeal against a High Court judgement ruling plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda are unlawful is unsuccessful.The prime minister has previously stated that the government will seek permission to appeal against the decision at the Supreme Court as he insisted that Rwanda was a safe country and said that the court had agreed with this.Appearing before parliament’s Liaison Committe on Tuesday, 4 July, the prime minister did not say whether the government has alternative plans if the scheme is not upheld in the Supreme Court. More

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    Jacob Rees-Mogg ignores questions on Partygate investigation: ‘I’m going to church’

    Jacob Rees-Mogg dodged questions from journalists on Thursday 29 June, after he was criticised in a report from the Privileges Committee.The Tory MP was accused of waging a “coordinated campaign of interference” which put “unprecedented” pressure on the committee investigating whether Boris Johnson lied to parliament over Partygate.Nadine Dorries, Andrea Jenkyns and Priti Patel were also identified in the report.Following the accusations, Mr Rees-Mogg refused to take questions from journalists as he was spotted jumping in a taxi.He told reporters he was “going to church” and then on to the “Test match” – likely speaking about the England vs Australia cricket fixture at Lord’s. More

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    Watch: Farage claims he’s being ‘pushed out of UK’ because people are ‘trying to close his bank accounts’

    Nigel Farage has claimed that the “establishment” is trying to “force him out of the UK” by closing his bank accounts.In a video, the GB News presenter says that he has been with the same banking group since 1980 but has recently received a phone call explaining his accounts are being closed.The former UKIP leader goes on to describe how he went to seven other banks to find another personal and business account and has been refused at each one.Mr Farage said that the closure of his bank accounts “may well fundamentally affect… whether I can stay living here in this country.””This is serious political persecution”, he wrote on Twitter. More

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    Chris Bryant says Rishi Sunak is ‘literally the worst person’ to be leading the country

    Rishi Sunak is “literally the worst person” to be leading the country, Sir Chris Bryant told Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 28 June.The Labour MP accused the prime minister of presiding over the “biggest fall in living standards in our history” in the House of Commons.Sir Chris’s comments came after fixed-rate mortgages rose to their highest level since the aftermath of Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-Budget in the autumn, when her government attempted to push through unfunded tax cuts and spooked the markets. More

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    Rishi Sunak warns ‘people may not like’ his decisions to tackle rising inflation

    Rishi Sunak warned that the public “may not like” his decisions over public sector pay in the Tories’ bid to control inflation.“People need to recognise the economic context we’re in… People may not like [my decisions] but those are the right things for everybody,” the prime minister told ITV News.Mr Sunak’s comments came as the British Medical Association announced new strike dates for junior doctors in England from 13 to 18 July in a fourth round of action over pay.The union is calling for pay restoration equating to a 35 per cent rise. More

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    Sunak cracks joke as he reacts to interest rates hitting 15-year high

    Rishi Sunak cracked jokes about missing out on lunch as he reacted to news that the Bank of England has lifted UK interest rates to a 15-year high.Speaking from a warehouse in Kent, the prime minister said everything about his visit was “superb”, but that his team was “a little bit sad that there was no meatballs at lunch”.Aside from the awkward joke, Mr Sunak moved to assure the British public that “we are going to get through this”.“I am totally, 100 per cent on it, it is going to be okay and we are going to get through this,” he said. More

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    Listen: James Cleverly challenged six times on Sunak’s plan to cut inflation – but has no answer

    Floundering foreign secretary James Cleverly was left red-faced in a bruising BBC interview when he was put on the spot over the inflation crisis.Challenged six times to say how Rishi Sunak planned to cut price rises Mr Cleverly’s stumbling replies were greeted with laughter by interviewer Amol Rajan.Eventually Mr Rajan ended the interview abruptly, silencing Mr Cleverly for the weather forecast.At one point tongue tied Mr Cleverly mistakenly talked about “low skilled inflation” harming the economy – he meant to say “low skilled immigration.”Mr Rajan became so frustrated with Mr Cleverly’s evasiveness he sarcastically thanked him for “giving me an economics lesson.” More