Minister plays down cabinet split after Cleverly says Rwanda plan ‘not be all and end all’
A cabinet minister has played down the suggestion of a government split on the Rwanda asylum plan after the home secretary said it was not the “be all and end all” of migration policy.
Backbench Tory MPs have criticised James Cleverly after he urged people not to “fixate” on the controversial deportation scheme, and said that leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) would undermine attempts to stop the boats.
Laura Trott, the chief secretary to the Treasury, told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips the home secretary was on the same page as the prime minister, who has pledged to do “whatever is necessary” to ensure flights take off.
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She said Rwanda remains “central” to the government’s promise to stop Channel crossings and “both are saying it is part of the plan, it is not all of the plan”.
Ms Trott said small boat crossings have already reduced despite no flights taking off with the £140m deal held up by legal challenges for over a year.
“We have successfully, in the last year, bought the numbers of people coming over here illegally down by a third,” she said.
“That is at a time when the numbers coming into Europe are up by 80%.”
Ms Trott went onto say that she was not worried about the Reform UK party outflanking the Conservatives from the right if the government fails to make true on its stop the boats pledge.
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“I’d be very clear that a vote for Reform or any other party which is not Conservative is a vote for Keir Starmer as prime minister.
“But what I would say is one of the reasons it’s so important for me to come on shows like yours is for us to communicate as a government what we are doing to stop the boats.”
Reform UK, previously the Brexit Party, has only taken small proportions of the vote in recent by-elections.
But that has not stopped some Conservatives fearing that Richard Tice’s party could exploit voter unhappiness over small boats at the next general election – especially given the advance of anti-immigration parties in other European countries.
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Mr Sunak’s stop the boats pledge faced a huge set back this month after the Supreme Court ruled the plan to deport asylum seekers who arrive by unauthorised means to Rwanda to be unlawful.
Although Mr Sunak has doubled down on the policy, with a plan to sign a new legally binding treaty with Rwanda aimed at addressing the judges’ concerns, Mr Cleverly appeared to take a more measured approach when he wrote in the Times: “My frustration is that we have allowed the narrative to be created that this was the be all and end all.
“The mission is to stop the boats. That’s the promise to the British people. Never lose sight of the mission. There are multiple methods. Don’t fixate on the methods. Focus on the mission.”
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Rishi Sunak admits there is ‘more to do’
It comes amid a separate row over the levels of legal migration to the UK, after new figures revealed net migration is at an all-time high – despite a Conservative 2019 manifesto pledge to bring numbers down.
Mr Sunak is under pressure from Tory MPs to take radical measures to make true on that pledge, including significantly increasing the minimum salary requirement to get a work visa and capping the number of health and social work visas.
Martin Lewis says motorists who were mis-sold car finance are likely to receive “hundreds, not thousands of pounds” – with regulators launching a consultation on a new compensation scheme.
The founder of MoneySavingExpert.com believes it is “very likely” that about 40% of Britons who entered personal contact purchase or hire purchase agreements between 2007 and 2021 will be eligible for payouts.
“Discretionary commission arrangements” saw brokers and dealers charge higher levels of interest so they could receive more commission, without telling consumers.
Pics: PA
Speaking to Sky News Radio’s Faye Rowlands, Lewis said: “Very rarely will it be thousands of pounds unless you have more than one car finance deal.
“So up to about a maximum of £950 per car finance deal where you are due compensation.”
Lewis explained that consumers who believe they may have been affected should check whether they had a discretionary commission arrangement by writing to their car finance company.
However, the personal finance guru warned against using a claims firm.
“They’re hardly going to do anything for you and you might get the money paid to you automatically anyway, in which case you’re giving them 30% for nothing,” he added.
Read more: How to tell if you’ve been mis-sold car finance
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Who’s eligible for payout after car finance scandal?
Yesterday, the Financial Conduct Authority said its review of the past use of motor finance “has shown that many firms were not complying with the law or our disclosure rules that were in force when they sold loans to consumers”.
The FCA’s statement added that those affected “should be appropriately compensated in an orderly, consistent and efficient way”.
Lewis told Sky News that the consultation will launch in October – and will take six weeks.
“We expect payouts to come in 2026, assuming this will happen and it’s very likely to happen,” he said.
“As for exactly how will work, it hasn’t decided yet. Firms will have to contact people, although there is an issue about them having destroyed some of the data for older claims.”
He believes claims will either be paid automatically – or affected consumers will need to opt in and apply to get compensation back.
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The FCA estimates the cost of any scheme – including compensation and administrative costs – to be no lower than £9bn.
But in a video on X, Lewis said that millions of people are likely to be due a share of up to £18bn.
The regulator’s announcement comes after the Supreme Court ruled on a separate, but similar, case on Friday.
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