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Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email An aspiring challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán renewed his calls for change Friday as he led a protest of several thousand people demanding a more robust child protection system and the resignation of Orbán’s government. The demonstrators gathered outside Hungary’s Interior Ministry in Budapest and called for its head, Sándor Pintér, to step down over what they see as his failure to prevent the sexual abuse of children in state-run institutions, a crime which has led to political upheaval in Hungary in recent months. Peter Magyar, a 43-year-old lawyer who has emerged as a new voice of opposition to Hungary’s right-wing government, took aim at Orbán’s portrayal of himself as a defender of families and traditional values, and called for genuine reforms to address child welfare.“We have a government that claims to be family friendly. It is a government that pretends to be Christian. A government that lies about being child-friendly. A government that lies about being pro-peace,” Magyar told the crowd. “The opposite is true. They lie in the morning, they lie at night, they lie everywhere they can.”The demonstration was the latest in a series of large anti-government protests that Magyar has mobilized in recent weeks, and comes as the political newcomer is campaigning for European Union elections this June with his new party, Respect and Freedom (TISZA). He has called for Orbán and his government to step down, and vowed to represent a third option for Hungarians disillusioned by both Orbán’s 14 years of governance and Hungary’s fragmented and ineffectual opposition parties. A one-time insider within Orbán’s Fidesz party and the ex-husband of former justice minister and Orbán ally Judit Varga, Magyar shot to prominence when he publicly accused the government of corruption and cronyism following a child sexual abuse scandal that led to the resignations in February of the president and justice minister. The scandal erupted after it was revealed that the former president, Katalin Novák, had issued a presidential pardon to a man convicted of trying to cover up child sexual abuse in a rural youth home. The case went to the heart of Orbán’s image as a Christian conservative who protects families and children from what he calls “LGBTQ propaganda.” Magyar on Friday said that Hungary’s child protection policies, which have been criticized for conflating homosexuality with pedophilia and abridging the rights of sexual minorities, have allowed abuses to go on unpunished, and demanded that Orbán apologize to the survivors of abuse in the orphanage. Hungary’s government has dismissed Magyar as an opportunist seeking a new career after he lost several positions in state companies following his divorce with the former justice minister. But his message has had wide appeal, and opinion polls showed that his new party is likely to gain seats in the European Parliament in June elections.László Horváth Etele, one of the demonstrators on Friday, said he sees Magyar as capable not only of mounting a real challenge to Orbán, but of disrupting the opposition parties that have been unable to unseat him in 14 years. “To be able to defeat the currently reigning government, this opposition needs to be changed. The current Hungarian opposition was only able to deliver a two-thirds majority for Fidesz,” he said. “I think that whoever loses so many times in a row should leave the field and give his place to new challengers who may have a chance.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Conservatives are doomed to lose the election because voters will not forgive the behaviour of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, according to Britain’s top pollster.Professor Sir John Curtice said Mr Johnson’s No 10 lockdown parties and Ms Truss’s economic catastrophe have made it impossible for Rishi Sunak to cling on to power.The prime minister threw away his only hope of mending the electoral damage caused by Mr Johnson and Ms Truss when he failed to condemn their conduct sufficiently strongly, said Prof Curtice.John Curtice says Boris Johnson and Liz Truss ruined the Tories’ reputation More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailHumza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister and the SNP leader, has spent little over a year in the job but could find himself ousted from office as he faces a no confidence vote following the collapse of his party’s power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens.The confidence motion was tabled after Mr Yousaf, who replaced the once dominant Nicola Sturgeon, ended the Bute House agreement, which saw the SNP and Greens cooperate on climate and other policies.With the Greens saying they will back the no confidence motion, it is unclear if Mr Yousaf can win the vote.Attention has focused on how Ash Regan, a former SNP minister and leadership candidate who lost to Mr Yousaf and then defected to Alex Salmond’s Alba Party after becoming “disillusioned” with the SNP’s “wavering commitment” to Scottish independence, will vote as the SNP has 63 MSPs, leaving Mr Yousaf one short of the minimum tally he needs to reach to win the vote.Alison Johnstone, the parliament’s Presiding Officer, traditionally does not vote. She would only cast a ballot if there was atie, and by convention the presiding officer uses their vote to support the status quo – so would back the first minister.What was the Bute House Agreement?After the May 2021 Scottish parliament election, the SNP – then led by Ms Sturgeon – emerged as the largest party but failed to win an overall majority.The Scottish Greens saw their best-ever result with eight MSPs, enough to give the two pro-independence parties a working majority at Holyrood.Negotiations began soon after the election and the deal cleared its final hurdle at the end of August 2021 when Green members voted to approve it – with 1,169 members (83 per cent) backing the deal, 234 voting against and nine abstaining.The Bute House Agreement takes its name from the first minister’s official residence in Edinburgh, where the draft deal was signed.Ms Sturgeon said the deal was a “historic” moment, and that Green co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater were “tough” negotiators.Humza Yousaf spoke to the media during a visit to a housing site in Dundee (Andrew Milligan/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailHumza Yousaf has vowed to fight on ahead of a vote of no confidence in his leadership, declaring “I have every intention of winning”. The defiant Scottish first minister accused opposition parties in Holyrood of acting in bad faith, and said he will seek to meet party leaders in a bid to “make minority government work”. Hours after he cann cancelled a speech on Scottish independence amid the growing crisis for the SNP, Mr Yousaf told Sky News: “I intend absolutely to fight that vote of no confidence, I’ve got every intention of winning that vote of no confidence.” Humza Yousaf dramatically brought the Bute House Agreement to and end (Jeff J Mitchell/PA) More

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

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

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

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