UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailJames Cleverly has been mocked for appearing to forget his own government’s policy to welcome Syrian asylum seekers.The Home Secretary shared a 2015 article in which Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called for Britain to take in 10,000 refugees from Syria during the 2015 European migrant crisis.After Ms Cooper and Sir Keir Starmer made a major speech on Labour’s asylum policy, Mr Cleverly used the article to suggest she could not be trusted with “stopping the boats”.James Cleverly appeared to forget his past support for the resettlement of Syrian refugees More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailJeremy Hunt has admitted Conservative MPs are “losing their nerve” as they continue to be trounced by Labour in the polls. Westminster was stunned this week with the shock defection of Tory MP Natalie Elphicke to Labour.The move added to Rishi Sunak’s woes just days after he appeared to see off Tory rebels keen to oust him, after bruising devastating local election results. Ben Houchen, the Tory Mayor of the Tees Valley, has also urged Mr Sunak to get a grip of his party as he warned the “public do not vote for parties who are not united”. Asked about both Lord Houchen’s comments and Ms Elphicke’s defection said: “What he (Houchen) said was divided parties don’t win elections and we need to pull together as a Conservative Party.“I think that when you see we are behind in the polls, unfortunately some colleagues do lose their nerve.” He added: “But the vast majority of parliamentary colleagues, they understand a very simple truth which is that people vote for Conservative governments because they trust us to take tough and difficult decisions in the long term interests of the economy. They can see that we have done that.”His comment come as Tory MPs panic over who could be next to defect to Labour. Many admit they were blindsided by Ms Elphicke’s decision to cross the floor, as she has been seen as one of the most right wing on the party’s benches. Her defection came hot on the heels of ex-Tory MP Dan Poulter, who joined Keir Starmer’s team last month. But Westminster is awash with rumours another Tory politician is soon to make the jump. Jeremy Hunt (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer has refused to rule out letting Nigel Farage into Labour Party, but joked that he would be the last person wanting to join his party.The Labour leader was introduced by former Tory MP Natalie Elphicke ahead of a major speech on immigration just days after her defection.Sir Keir said it is “great to have you” to Ms Elphicke, whose shock decision to cross the floor of the House of Commons sparked fury among Labour MPs.Sir Keir Starmer said Nigel Farage would not More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch as Sir Keir Starmer gives a speech on Labour’s small boat policy from Dover on Friday 10 May.Labour will use new counter-terrorism powers to tackle people-smuggling gangs bringing migrants across the Channel, Sir Keir announced.In a speech on the Kent coast, the Labour leader set out his party’s plans to tackle the small boats crisis if it wins the general election.Sir Keir said Labour will “replace gimmicks with graft”, scrapping the government’s Rwanda scheme and using some of the money saved to fund a new “elite Border Security Command” led by a former police, military or intelligence chief.Attacking the government’s approach as “rank incompetence”, he dismissed the Rwanda scheme as being unable to provide an effective deterrent and accused the Conservatives of operating a “Travelodge amnesty” by housing migrants in hotels rather than processing their claims.Sir Keir also stressed his experience as the former head of the Crown Prosecution Service and pledged to make Britain “hostile territory” for people smugglers. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe defection of Natalie Elphicke from the Tories has played a role in boosting Labours poll lead by two points in just a week.According to Techne UK’s weekly tracker poll, shared with The Independent, Labour’s support among those who would vote rose to 45 percent (up 1) while the Tories’s dropped a point to 21 percent giving Sir Keir Starmer a commanding 24-point lead.The survey of 1,638 UK voters was taken in the wake of Dover MP Ms Elphicke crossing the floor from the Tories to Labour with a damning indictment of Rishi Sunak’s government being “divided and incompetent”.Ms Elphicke was particularly unhappy about the government failing to meet Mr Sunak’s pledge of “stopping the boats” of asylum seekers crossing the Channel from France.Elphicke takes her place behind Starmer More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Lithuania is holding a presidential election on Sunday at a time when Russian gains on the battlefield in Ukraine are fueling greater fears across all of Europe about Moscow’s intentions, but particularly in the strategically important Baltic region.The popular incumbent, Gitanas Nausėda, is favored to win another five-year term. But there are eight candidates running in all, making it unlikely that he or any other candidate can win the 50% of the votes needed to win outright on Sunday. In that case, a runoff would be held two weeks later on May 26.The president’s main tasks in Lithuania’s political system are overseeing foreign and security policy, and acting as the supreme commander of the armed forces. Those duties and the nation’s strategic location along NATO’s eastern flank amid a larger geopolitical standoff between Russia and the West add heft to the role despite Lithuania’s relatively small size.There is great concern in Lithuania, and in neighboring Latvia and Estonia, about Russia’s gaining momentum in Ukraine. All three Baltic states declared independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union and took a determined westward course, joining both the European Union and NATO.Nausėda, a moderate conservative who turns 60 a week after Sunday’s election day, has been a strong backer of Ukraine, a position shared across most of the political spectrum. During his time in office, Lithuania has also given refuge to many who have fled an authoritarian crackdown in neighboring Belarus and increased repression in Russia.Nausėda, a former banker who entered politics with his successful presidential run in 2019, is seen as the “safe choice for voters of almost all ideological persuasions,” said Tomas Janeliūnas, an analyst at Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science. Polls show that his main opponents are Ignas Vėgėlė, a populist lawyer, who is in second place according to recent opinion polls, and Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, who is in third place in the surveys.Not all voters view Nausėda as the safer option.Asta Valanciene, a teacher from Vilnius, said that she would vote for Šimonytė because of the prime minister’s longer experience in politics than newcomer Nausėda.“I would rather give her a chance than witness another five years of this random guy in office. I simply trust professionals,” Valanciene said.A former finance minister, Šimonytė became prime minister in 2020 after a failed presidential run in 2019, with Nausėda winning that election with 66% of the votes in the runoff.Vėgėlė gained popularity among some Lithuanians during the COVID-19 pandemic by harshly criticizing the lockdown and vaccination policies of the current government. A second-place win for Vėgėlė could propel him to a prominent role in national politics before Lithuania’s parliamentary election this fall — and would be a sharp blow to the prime minister, said Rima Urbonaitė, a political analyst at Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius.“For first place, everything is almost clear, but it’s hard to say who else would get into the second round. Nausėda’s chances of reelection are high. However, this time, second place becomes very significant,” Urbonaitė said.While both Nausėda and Šimonytė are strong advocates of greater military spending and big supporters of Kyiv, several other candidates call aid to Ukraine an invitation for Russia to invade Lithuania.Vėgėlė’s comments on the issue of aid to Ukraine have sometimes been vague, and he has mocked those who advocate increasing defense spending to 4% of gross domestic product, double NATO’s target.A referendum is also on the ballot Sunday. It asks whether the constitution should be amended to allow dual citizenship for hundreds of thousands of Lithuanians living abroad. Lithuanian citizens who adopt another nationality currently must give up their Lithuanian citizenship, creating vulnerabilities for a nation whose population has fallen from 3.5 million in 1990 to 2.8 million today.If it passes, the parliament would be able to amend the 1992 Constitution so people who have acquired Lithuanian citizenship by birth will be able to keep it if they acquire citizenship of another country “friendly to Lithuania.”A similar attempt to change the fundamental law failed in 2019 because turnout was below a required 50% of registered voters to be valid. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour will divert millions of pounds earmarked for Rwanda deportation flights to set up a new body to tackle criminal smuggling gangs, Sir Keir Starmer will announce today.In a keynote speech laying out the party’s plans to end the Conservatives’ “talk tough, do nothing” approach to Channel crossings, the Labour leader will promise new powers to clamp down on smugglers and hundreds of specialist investigators.And in a warning to those behind small boat crossings, Sir Keir will say: “These shores will become hostile territory for you.”Despite Rishi Sunak repeatedly promising to “stop the boats”, arrivals across the Channel this year are at a record high. The prime minister’s flagship Rwanda scheme is set to deport the first migrants to Kigali this summer, but has shown no sign of deterring migrants since passing into law.Now, Labour is planning to divert some of the £75m allocated to the scheme to fund a new Border Security Command, which it says will be modelled on the office for security and counterterrorism.The party will also install a new so-called border security commander to work across intelligence agencies to protect the UK’s border.And Labour will hire hundreds of intelligence agents and cross-border police officers to support the Border Security Command and tackle smuggling gangs.At a speech on the Kent coast, days after the defection of Dover MP Natalie Elphicke, Sir Keir will reiterate Labour’s commitment to scrap the beleaguered Rwanda scheme.The Labour leader will say: “Rebuilding our asylum system has become a test of political strength, a trial of leadership to resist the voices who fundamentally do not want to rebuild a functioning asylum system.“It’s become a question of whether you can prioritise, at all times, the politics of practical solutions, and reject the politics of performative symbols – the gimmicks and gestures.”Sir Keir will attack the “rank incompetence” of the Conservatives on immigration, accusing Mr Sunak of creating a permanent backlog of asylum seekers by refusing to process their claims.“Even if they have absolutely no right to be here they cannot be removed, billing the taxpayer for expensive hotel accommodation … the government has achieved the complete opposite of what they claim,” he will say.Sir Keir will add: “A Travelodge amnesty, handed out by the Tory party that, if nothing else, is warmer and safer than spending winter under canvas near a beach in northern France. If you don’t think that’s what the gangs are telling the people they exploit – you don’t know them.”Among the measures set to be proposed by Sir Keir are new border control stop and searches, building on powers created in 2000 by the Terrorism Act, along with new financial investigation powers and search and seizure warrants targeting organised immigration crime.Meanwhile the new Border Security Command would bring together agencies including the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and MI5.Some 8,826 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year, provisional Home Office figures show.This is up 32 per cent on this time last year, when 6,691 migrants were recorded, and a 14 per cent rise compared with the same period in 2022 (7,750).Campaigners warned that the current asylum system is in “meltdown” and is “only going to get worse” unless urgent changes are made.Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said “whoever is in government” must focus on ensuring fairness in the system above anything else, adding: “The Illegal Migration Act must be scrapped immediately, along with plans to ship people off on a one-way ticket to Rwanda.“Instead of wasting time on legislation that bans the right to asylum and dehumanises people who simply need safety, there must be a fair, efficient and humane asylum system.”And Refugee Action chief executive Tom Naor Hilton said: “Whoever makes up the next government, they must end this hostile environment and build a refugee protection system that respects people’s right to claim asylum, creates safe routes to reach the UK, and tackles the racism that lies at the heart of immigration policy.”Home secretary James Cleverly said: “Rather than starting the flights and stopping the boats, Sir Keir Starmer’s big new idea is an amnesty for all illegal immigrants, scrapping our Rwanda plan even if it’s working. “Nobody believes Keir Starmer wants to control our borders when he previously said immigration controls are ‘racist’ and blocked the deportation of violent sexual offenders. Actions speak louder than words, Keir Starmer will never be on the side of the British people.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer is facing a fresh headache over Gaza just days after pro-Palestinian candidates cost Labour tens of thousands of votes at the local elections.The former head of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is running against shadow veterans minister Steve McCabe in Birmingham Selly Oak, which has a significant Muslim population.Kamel Hawwash, who is a Professor in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Birmingham, is standing against the veteran MP, who is also the chairman of Labour Friends of Israel.Professor Hawwash said Keir Starmer’s comments on LBC were ‘beyond the pale’He is standing under the banner of Reliance, a group which will field a slew of candidates across the country at the next general election.Professor Hawwash, who is a British Palestinian, quit the Labour Party in October after Sir Keir appeared to back Israel withholding food and water from civilians in the Gaza Strip.At the time, he accused the Labour leader of having “blind support for Israel whatever it does” and “throwing Palestinians under a bus”.Launching his campaign for the Birmingham seat, Professor Hawwash said: “Keir Starmer’s comments condoning Israel’s collective punishment of Gazans were beyond the pale. His unequivocal support for Netanyahu in the months since – which has seen more than 35,000 Gazans murdered – 70 per cent of which are women and children – has been horrifying to witness and he must be held accountable.“Starmer continues to ignore the daily atrocities and puff his chest out as a proud Zionist.”Steve McCabe has a 12,414 majority in Birmingham Selly Oak More