Rishi Sunak’s ‘patience worn thin’ by Rwanda asylum plan setbacks
Rishi Sunak has said his “patience is worn thin” by stumbling blocks to his Rwanda asylum plan as he said the government was “finalising” legislation to push through the controversial deal.
The prime minister aims to salvage the scheme by signing a new treaty with the African country and introduce an emergency law to ensure the agreement is legally watertight following the Supreme Court defeat, but this has been delayed.
The policy, which will see some asylum seekers sent on a one-way trip to Rwanda instead of being able to try to stay in the UK, is seen by the government as central to its efforts to deter small boats crossing the English Channel.
The policy is central to government plans to stop small boat crossings
Just hours after the Supreme Court ruled the plan unlawful on 15 November, Downing Street said measures would be brought forward in the “coming days” so deportation flights could take off “as soon as possible”.
The holdup has angered right-wing Tory MPs, further fuelled by the new Home Secretary James Cleverly suggesting the scheme was not the “be all and end all” of the government’s immigration approach.
But speaking in Dubai during his trip to the COP28 climate talks, Mr Sunak signalled legislation to pave the way for the asylum plan was imminent.
He said: “We’re finalising that at the moment. And it’s important that we get it right because this is such a vital issue.
“But I’m clear about the goal here – the goal is to make sure that parliament can declare unequivocally that on the basis of everything that we’ve done that Rwanda is a safe place to operationalise our scheme.
“Once we’ve done that and parliament’s affirmed that, there should be no more domestic blocks to us putting in place this programme that we’ve been working on for a long time.”
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Is Rwanda safe for asylum seekers?
He added: “But I’ve also been clear that I won’t allow a foreign court to block us from flights taking off.
“My patience is worn thin, the British people’s patience is worn thin.
“And although we’ve made great progress on this issue – reducing the number of small boat crossings by a third this year, something that everyone thought was impossible when I got this job – we’ve got more to go.
“I want to finish the job and that’s why I’ll get the Rwanda scheme up and running.”
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But the move faces stiff opposition at Westminster, particularly in the unelected House of Lords where the government does not have a majority.
The prime minister has been urged, including by sacked home secretary Suella Braverman, to adopt tough legislation that includes “notwithstanding” provisions that can prevent judges from applying protections in the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to asylum cases.
But government lawyers have reportedly warned instructing the courts to ignore the ECHR risks opening up more avenues for migrants to challenge the legality of deportation flights, on the grounds it would breach Britain’s convention obligations.
Politics
MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn
An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.
Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.
She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.
Politics latest: Zarah Sultana’s stinging resignation letter
Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.
She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.
Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.
However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.
Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.
The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.
Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.
In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.
Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.
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On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.
She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.
Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.
She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.
Ms Sultana called Nigel Farage a ‘billionaire-backed grifter’. Pic: PA
The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.
“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.
“We are not going to take this anymore.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.
“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”
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