‘A total farce’: Labour furious as govt reveals cost of Rwanda asylum policy
Rishi Sunak is facing fresh pressure over his Rwanda policy after it emerged the scheme has already cost £240m, despite never being used.
The government spent a further £100m in the 2023-24 financial year while flights remained grounded amid a series of legal setbacks – on top of the £140m previously paid out.
According to a letter from the Home Office to committee chairs, ministers expect additional costs of £50m in the coming year, which would bring the total to £290m.
Politics – latest: Rwanda vote not about leadership, says Rishi Sunak
It came just hours after Mr Sunak vowed to “finish the job” of reviving his plan to deport some asylum seekers to Kigali – despite the prospect of a bitter parliamentary battle.
On the additional £100m shelled out this year, Downing Street said it was signed off by former home secretary Suella Braverman.
But those close to the sacked cabinet minister insist it was approved by the prime minister and was part of the original plan.
Downing Street has rejected any suggestion the prime minister had misled MPs over the money for Kigali insisting that the original agreement stated the deal “involves subsequent funding”.
A spokeswoman said: “It was always set out that there would be funding attached to what is an economic and migration partnership. And this further funding was part of that.”
Home Office official Matthew Rycroft wrote to Home Affairs Committee chair Dame Diana Johnson, and Public Accounts Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier, on Thursday.
His letter said: “Ministers have agreed that I can disclose now the payments so far in the 2023-24 financial year.
“There has been one payment of £100m, paid in April this year as part of the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund mentioned above.
“The UK government has not paid any more to the government of Rwanda thus far.
“This was entirely separate to the treaty – the government of Rwanda did not ask for any payment in order for a treaty to be signed, nor was any offered.”
Will it be crisis delayed rather than averted for Rishi Sunak?
If there’s one thing to take from the parliamentary Brexit battles of 2019, it’s that if there’s a possibility to kick the can down the road and avoid a damaging Commons defeat, the government of the day will almost always take it.
So it may prove to be next week when the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill faces its first vote by MPs.
Torpedoing legislation at the first possible opportunity is not a usual tactic for rebel backbenchers anyway.
That’s because later stages allow the chance for changes to be put forward and compromises extracted.
The newly appointed legal migration minister signalled on Friday the government is open to discussion.
This potentially pushes the crunch moment back to early next year.
But what could the government offer to get rebels on side?
Many Tory MPs would like the “full fat” option of disregarding the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in totality.
Rishi Sunak has already made it clear that is not on the table as he says it would cause Rwanda to pull out of the deal.
Some have cast doubt on that with one Tory source hostile to the prime minister saying “questions need to be asked about the statement the Rwandans have given on our country’s laws. Was it requested by number 10?”.
Junking the whole of the ECHR would undoubtedly prompt a backlash from other parts of the party though and potentially risk cabinet resignations.
A hardening of the drafting or insertion of more “notwithstanding” clauses seems more feasible.
Another tactic sometimes used in situations like these is to draw up a separate statement or memorandum re-emphasising and cementing parts of the bill that could be referred to in the legislative text.
Whether that goes far enough for MPs remains to be seen and will depend on how dogmatic and philosophical backbenchers want to be.
One final point.
Even if this bill passes the Commons, it will certainly get a rough ride in the Lords – where the Tories have no majority.
Complicating matters further is the proximity of the next election, a tight timetable the Institute for Government says makes it impossible for the prime minister to overrule peers using the Parliament Act.
Crisis delayed rather than crisis averted then and for Mr Sunak, with 2024 looking no easier than 2023.
Labour described the revelation as “incredible” – with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper saying: “How many more blank cheques will Rishi Sunak write before the Tories come clean about this scheme being a total farce?
“Britain simply can’t afford more of this costly chaos from the Conservatives.”
But defending the growing bill, legal migration minister Tom Pursglove told Sky News: “When you consider that we are unacceptably spending £8m a day in the asylum system at the moment, it is a key part of our strategy to bring those costs down so I think this is the right investment to make that will help us achieve those objectives of saving lives at sea, stopping people drowning in the Channel, as well as getting those costs under control in a way I think taxpayers across the country want to see.”
Read more:
Rishi Sunak facing political fight of his life
He also signalled the government could be open to compromises with rebel Tory MPs to push through emergency legislation, which declares that Rwanda is a safe destination for asylum seekers in a bid to overcome legal obstacles.
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‘My patience has worn thin, right?’
But the bill has divided backbenchers with Conservative hardliners arguing it does not go far enough and pressing for it to effectively override international law, while MPs on the moderate side of the party are said to be “very nervous” about the implications of the proposed law.
Despite the public splits, Mr Pursglove said: “I think there is a unity of purpose among Conservative MPs that action does need to be taken that we do need to deliver on this.
“There will be parliamentary debates, there will be opportunities for people to bring amendments, the house will consider them in the normal way and as ministers we will engage constructively with parliamentarians around any concerns that they have and handle that in the way that we would any other piece of legislation.
“We will engage with colleagues around concerns that they have, but I am pretty clear that this plan is the right plan and we are determined to see it through.
“This is the right approach to move this issue forward.”
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New Rwanda bill: What now?
He added: “I do think parliamentarians across the House should come together to back this.
“If you really want to stop the small boat crossings, this is such a critical part of the plan I think all MPs should be getting in behind it.”
Mr Sunak has insisted his new law would end the “merry-go-round of legal challenges”.
MPs will get their first chance to debate and vote on the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill on Tuesday.
The prime minister dismissed suggestions he will make it a confidence vote, meaning that MPs would have the whip withdrawn if they defied him.
Under the government’s plan first unveiled in April 2022, people who arrive in the UK by irregular means – such as on small boats – could be sent on a one-way trip to Rwanda, where the Kigali government would decide on their refugee status.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.
While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.
According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.
Source: Web.archive.org
Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.
The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.
Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph
Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.
Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset
Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”
“At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.
“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding:
“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”
However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.
Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension
Is Satoshi Nakamoto wealthier than Bill Gates?
In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.
Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan
If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.
Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.
Magazine: 10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’
The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up.
On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication.
Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market”
Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data.
The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020.
“US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.”
Source: Anthony Scaramucci
On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries.
Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods.
Related: Bitcoin bulls defend $80K support as ‘World War 3 of trade wars’ crushes US stocks
Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected.
Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding.
Source: Jeff Dorman
Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty.
Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”
Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.
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