UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has pounced on claims that migrants are heading to Ireland from the UK over fears of being sent to Rwanda as evidence that his deportation plan is working – despite no flights having taken off. Deputy Irish premier Micheal Martin claimed on Friday there had been a rise in migrants crossing the border from Northern Ireland into the Republic over fears of being sent on a one-way flight to the east African nation under Mr Sunak’s flagship policy.The prime minister responded on Saturday claiming that this was evidence that the deterrent effect of the Rwanda plan was “already having an impact”. This is despite not a single flight having left for Rwanda since the plan was proposed more than two years ago.The legislation ensuring the plan is legally sound, the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act, cleared its passage through parliament this week and was signed into law on Thursday. But Mr Sunak acknowledged it could still take 10 to 12 weeks to get flights in the air, in a blow to his earlier target of the spring of this year.In an interview with Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, which will air in full on Sunday, the prime minister was challenged over whether the UK is simply exporting the problem.Mr Sunak said: “My focus is on the United Kingdom and securing our borders. But what [Mr Martin’s] comment illustrates is a couple of things.“One, that illegal migration is a global challenge, which is why you’re seeing multiple countries talk about doing third-country partnerships, looking at novel ways to solve this problem, and I believe will follow where the UK has led.“But what it also shows, I think, is that the deterrent is, according to your comment, already having an impact, because people are worried about coming here and that demonstrates exactly what I’m saying.“If people come to our country illegally, but know that they won’t be able to stay, they’re much less likely to come, and that’s why the Rwanda scheme is so important.”Migrants wave to a smuggler’s boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel, on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailGrant Shapps has warned agitating Tory MPs against ousting Rishi Sunak and said the prime minister should be left to “get on with the job” – amid speculation the PM could announce an election next week.The defence secretary said said Mr Sunak should be “given the space” to do his job. “He’s doing a great job, he’s doing it under difficult circumstances,” he said.“There was never an instruction book to get these difficult things [done] and actually steer us through a difficult course”.Multiple No 10 sources have played down claims that the prime minster may call an election as early as Monday, pointing to Mr Sunak’s repeated insistence that a vote will take place in the second half of this year.Speculation is mounting the PM will announce the election date on Monday More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe UK Home Office has asked civil servants to apply for jobs relocating them to Rwanda to help oversee their controversial deportation plan.The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill finally became an act of parliament on Thursday after months of pushback and debate.Campaigners have already called for the law, and other sweeping asylum reforms introduced by the government, to be repealed – warning they could cause a “system meltdown” costing the taxpayer billions of pounds.However, plans are being pushed ahead, with the Home Office reportedly advertising for people in the asylum decision-making team in the UK to move overseas.The move to Kigali is set to be as early as next month in order to offer assistance to Rwandan officials dealing with asylum claims, the i reported.The move to Kigali is set to be as early as next month More

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