Rishi Sunak to hold Rwanda bill press conference after plan to stop small boat crossings survives Tory rebellion
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will hold a press conference at 10am after his controversial Rwanda bill passed its latest stage in parliament – despite rebellions from his own backbenchers.
The legislation – which aims to deter asylum seekers from making small boat crossings by threatening deportation to the African nation – passed its third reading in the Commons last night with a majority of 44.
But 11 Tory MPs, including former ministers Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick, voted against the bill after days of attempts by a larger group of right-wing Conservatives to toughen up the law with their own amendments.
A further 18 Tory MPs abstained from the vote.
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PM to give press conference after Rwanda row
The plan will now head to the Lords for further scrutiny, and is expected to face additional criticism from peers on all sides of the chamber, with a Tory source saying the prime minister was “by no means out of the woods”.
One Conservative frontbench peer told Sky News the government would be “thoroughly beaten” over the Rwanda scheme, adding: “The bill will only be weakened [by the Lords] and that will just throw more grenades onto the green carpets [of the Commons].”
But a Number 10 spokesman said the passing of the bill by MPs “marks a major step in our plan to stop the boats”.
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Moment Rwanda plan clears Commons
This latest piece of legislation attempting to get the Rwanda scheme off the ground came as a response to the UK’s Supreme Court, who ruled the plan was “unlawful” late last year.
To address the court’s concerns, the bill designates Rwanda as a “safe country”, and it gives ministers the powers to disregard sections of the Human Rights Act to ensure deportation flights get off the ground.
But it does not go as far as allowing them to dismiss interventions from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) entirely – a demand of some on the right.
The government offered limited concessions to rebels over the course of the week in an attempt to keep them on side – including an increase in judges to handle appeals and changes to the civil service code.
But Mr Sunak also had to prevent a possible rebellion from more centrist Tories, who believe going any further would threaten the UK’s international legal obligations on human rights, as well as ensuring the Rwandan government remained content with the proposals.
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What do voters think of Rwanda plan?
While some of the prominent figures publicly arguing against the bill fell into line when the crunch vote came late last night – including two MPs who resigned their party posts in order to back rebel amendments – others were willing to vote against the government.
Ms Braverman, who was fired as home secretary in Mr Sunak’s last reshuffle, posted on X that the Rwanda bill would “not stop the boats” in its current form and “leaves us exposed to litigation and the Strasbourg court”.
She added: “I engaged with the government to fix it but no changes were made. I could not vote for yet another law destined to fail.”
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Starmer: Rwanda policy a ‘farce’
Home Office minister Chris Philp told Sky News the rebels had “sincerely held views on how the bill could be strengthened” and were “perfectly entitled to put their ideas forward and to vote for them as they did”.
But he pointed out that when it came to the “critical vote” to move the legislation on, the majority backed the government.
“This is a critical government policy and a critical government pledge,” he added. “The government has a plan, a plan on the economy, a plan on immigration.
“We are delivering that plan. We’re going to stick with that plan and it’s going to work.”
Mr Philp also denied the internal party row was taking up all the prime minister’s time, telling Kay Burley Mr Sunak “can walk and chew gum at the same time”.
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But Labour has called the Conservative Party “a shambles”, and remains strongly opposed to the Rwanda bill.
Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News: “This is a gimmick that means spending £400m. Nobody has gone to Rwanda. It won’t solve the [small boats] problem. You can’t solve the problem by gimmicks.
“And at the heart of this very serious problem is a conversation about whether you have these gimmicks that won’t do the job or whether you spend the money properly on things like cracking down on the criminal gangs, having a proper returns policy.
“You don’t have millions of pounds spent on people in hotels because you’re processing the system fairly [and] efficiently. That’s what it’s got to be. And anything else, quite frankly, is a gimmick.”
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Starmer and Trump discuss ‘productive negotiations’ towards US-UK trade deal, Downing Street says
Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump have discussed the “productive negotiations” towards a UK-US “economic prosperity deal”, Downing Street has said.
The two leaders discussed a possible deal in a phone call on Sunday and agreed negotiations will “continue at pace”, according to a statement.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister spoke to president Trump this evening.
“The president opened by wishing His Majesty the King best wishes and good health.
“They discussed the productive negotiations between their respective teams on a UK-US economic prosperity deal, agreeing that these will continue at pace this week.
“Discussing Ukraine, the prime minister updated the president on the productive discussions at the meeting of the Coalition of Willing in Paris this week. The leaders agreed on the need to keep up the collective pressure on Putin.
“They agreed to stay in touch in the coming days.”
Earlier this week, Mr Trump announced a new 25% tariff on all imported cars – threatening UK producers’ largest single export market.
Signing an executive order on Wednesday, Mr Trump said the tax would kick in on 2 April – what he has called “liberation day”.
British manufacturers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce stand to be worst affected by the tariffs.
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Trump ‘wants lasting peace in Ukraine’
But the government has signalled it would not retaliate – mirroring its response to the tariffs on steel and aluminium imposed globally by the Trump administration earlier this month.
Tariffs are a key part of Mr Trump’s efforts to reshape global trade relations.
He plans to impose what he calls “reciprocal” taxes on “liberation day” that would match tariffs and sales taxes levied by other nations. The extent of potential tariffs and countries affected remains unclear.
He has already placed a 20% tax on all imports from China.
He also placed 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, with a lower 10% tariff on Canadian energy products in addition to the duties on all steel and aluminium imports, including those from the UK.
The two leaders spoke last Sunday in a “brief call” about the economic prosperity deal, and again nearly three weeks ago ahead of the US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia.
Mr Starmer and Mr Trump appeared to have a warm personal relationship when they met in the Oval Office last month.
But just a day later, the US president along with vice president JD Vance delivered a dressing down to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy – marking a major shift in the US approach to Ukraine and cementing Mr Starmer’s position as a bridge between Europe and the US in the peace talks.
Mr Starmer and Mr Trump also spoke twice before they met in person.
The government plans to change the law so it can overrule Sentencing Council guidelines following a row over “two-tier justice”, Sky News understands.
The independent Sentencing Council, which sets out sentencing guidance to courts in England and Wales, has been at odds with Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood for weeks after it updated its guidance.
It said that from April, a pre-sentence report, the results of which are taken into account when considering a criminal’s sentence, will “usually be necessary” before handing out punishment for someone from an ethnic, cultural or faith minority, alongside other groups such as young adults aged 18 to 25, women and pregnant women.
Conservative shadow justice minister Robert Jenrick called the guidance “two-tier justice” and said there was “blatant bias” against Christians and straight white men, as he said it would make “a custodial sentence less likely for those from an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community”.
Ms Mahmood had called on the Sentencing Council to reverse the guidance, but it refused, which Sir Keir Starmer said he was “disappointed” with, and the justice secretary called “unacceptable”.
Sir Keir Starmer said he was ‘disappointed’ the Sentencing Council will not reverse its guidelines. File pic: Reuters
Before the weekend, Sir Keir said “all options are on the table” over how the government might respond.
But sources have now told Sky News the Ministry of Justice plans to legislate at the “earliest opportunity” to be able to overrule sentencing guidelines.
Ministers could introduce the legislation as early as Monday so they can “push it through parliament”, so the current guidelines can be changed quickly.
Until the law is changed so the government can dismiss the Sentencing Council guidelines, the body can plough ahead with the changes as it is independent of the state.
Read more:
Sentencing Council rejects minister’s call for guidance rethink
What are pre-sentence reports and why the controversy?
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‘Blatant bias against straight, white men’
In reply to Ms Mahmood’s letter calling for a reversal, the Sentencing Council’s chair, Lord Justice William Davis, said on Friday that the reforms reflect evidence of disparities in sentencing outcomes, disadvantages faced within the criminal justice system and complexities in the circumstances of individual offenders.
He said pre-sentence reports allow judges to be “better equipped” to “avoid a difference in outcome based on ethnicity”.
“The cohort of ethnic, cultural and faith minority groups may be a cohort about which judges and magistrates are less well informed,” he added.
Sky News has contacted the Sentencing Council for a comment on the potential law changes.
Concerns over a global trade war continue to pressure traditional and cryptocurrency markets as investors brace for a potential tariff announcement from US President Donald Trump on April 2 — a move that could set the tone for Bitcoin’s price trajectory throughout the month.
Trump first announced import tariffs on Chinese goods on Jan. 20, the day of his inauguration as president.
Global tariff fears have led to heightened inflation concerns, limiting appetite for risk assets among investors. Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen 18%, and the S&P 500 (SPX) index has fallen more than 7% in the two months following the initial tariff announcement, according to TradingView data, TradingView data shows.
“Going forward, April 2 is drawing increased attention as a potential flashpoint for fresh US tariff announcements,” Stella Zlatareva, dispatch editor at digital asset investment platform Nexo, told Cointelegraph.
S&P 500, BTC/USD, 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
Investor sentiment took another hit on March 29 after Trump pressed his senior advisers to take a more aggressive stance on import tariffs, which may be seen as a potential escalation of the trade war, the Washington Post reported, citing four unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
The April 2 announcement is expected to detail reciprocal trade tariffs targeting top US trading partners. The measures aim to reduce the country’s estimated $1.2 trillion goods trade deficit and boost domestic manufacturing.
Related: Bitcoin ‘more likely’ to hit $110K before $76.5K — Arthur Hayes
Bitcoin ETFs, whales continue accumulating
Despite mounting uncertainty, large Bitcoin holders — known as “whales,” with between 1,000 BTC and 10,000 BTC — have continued to accumulate.
Addresses in this category have remained steady since the beginning of 2025, from 1,956 addresses on Jan. 1 to over 1,990 addresses on March 27 — still below the previous cycle’s peak of 2,370 addresses recorded in February 2024, Glassnode data shows.
Whale address count. Source: Glassnode
“Risk appetite remains muted amid tariff threats from President Trump and ongoing macro uncertainty,” according to Iliya Kalchev, dispatch analyst at Nexo, who told Cointelegraph:
“Still, BTC accumulation by whales and a 10-day ETF inflow streak point to steady institutional demand. But hawkish surprises — from inflation or trade — may keep crypto rangebound into April.”
Related: $1T stablecoin supply could drive next crypto rally — CoinFund’s Pakman
The US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds halted their 10-day accumulation streak on March 28 when Fidelity’s ETF recorded over $93 million worth of outflows, while the other ETF issuers registered no inflows or outflows, Farside Investors data shows.
Bitcoin ETF Flows. Source: Farside Investors
Despite short-term volatility concerns, analysts remained optimistic about Bitcoin’s price trajectory for late 2025, with price predictions ranging from $160,000 to above $180,000.
Magazine: SCB tips $500K BTC, SEC delays Ether ETF options, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Feb. 23 – March 1
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