Connect with us

Published

on

Former cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke has called on Rishi Sunak to resign as prime minister.

The Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland said Mr Sunak has gone “from asset to anchor” and the party faces an electoral “massacre” under his leadership.

Politics latest: Reaction to Clarke’s call for PM to go

The MP said the country was “on the brink of being run by Keir Starmer’s Labour for a decade or more” and if Nigel Farage “returns to the fray, as looks increasingly likely, extinction is a very real possibility for our party”.

Sir Simon explained that Mr Sunak was not “solely responsible for our present predicament” but his “uninspiring leadership is the main obstacle to our recovery”.

“The unvarnished truth is that Rishi Sunak is leading the Conservatives into an election where we will be massacred,” he wrote in The Telegraph.

Analysis: Clarke’s attack on Sunak is more kamikaze than mutiny… for now

More on Conservatives

Sir Simon, who served as housing secretary under Liz Truss, was one of 11 Conservative MPs to vote against Mr Sunak’s Rwanda bill last week after what was mooted to be a sizeable rebellion fizzled out following attempts to toughen up the scheme failed.

His intervention comes amid a number of struggles for the prime minister, including falling approval ratings and unhappiness within his party over the deportation plan for asylum seekers.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gestures as he meets with Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo at Downing Street, London, Britain, January 23, 2024. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/Pool
Image:
Rishi Sunak is lagging well behind Labour in the polls

Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby heard last week that “several” letters of no confidence in Mr Sunak had been submitted to the backbench 1922 Committee of the Conservative Party. A minimum of 53 would need to be sent in to trigger a leadership contest.

Speaking to the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge on Monday, Dame Andrea Jenkyns reiterated she wanted Mr Sunak to stand down.

Sir Simon’s article in The Telegraph added: “I know many MPs are afraid another change of leader would look ridiculous. But what could be more ridiculous than meekly sleepwalking towards an avoidable annihilation because we were not willing to listen to what the public are telling us so clearly?

“A change of leadership would not have to be a protracted affair. As was planned in October 2022, the contest need only take a week.

“Two days of MPs voting, a few more days before an online members’ vote. Which is worse: a week of chaotic headlines in Westminster, or a decade of decline under Keir?”

Sir Simon has also been critical of government policy on housing and wind power.

Sir Simon’s calls were backed by Nadine Dorries, a Boris Johnson loyalist who resigned from the House of Commons last year and who regularly speaks out against Mr Sunak.

Multiple Conservatives quickly rode to the prime minister’s defence.

Former defence and trade secretary Sir Liam Fox said: “This is not the time for self-indulgence and tribalism in the party.

“Those who have an agenda to destabilise the government in an election year should understand the consequences.

“Having been on the front bench for all 13 years in opposition, it is a miserable place. Be warned.”

Sir Simon and Mr Sunak worked together in the Treasury. Pic: Treasury
Image:
Sir Simon and Mr Sunak worked together in the Treasury. Pic: Treasury

Former Brexit secretary Sir David Davis said: “This is getting silly.

“The party and the country are sick and tired of MPs putting their own leadership ambitions ahead of the UK’s best interests.

“It is really about time these people realise they have a duty to the country that is greater than their personal leadership ambitions.”

Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel said: “At this critical time for our country, with challenges at home and abroad, our party must focus on the people we serve and deliver for the country.

“Engaging in facile and divisive self-indulgence only serves our opponents, it’s time to unite and get on with the job.”

Stalwart of the One Nation wing of the party Damian Green also condemned Sir Simon.

Opposition parties were similarly unimpressed.

Labour’s shadow paymaster general, Jonathan Ashworth, said: “This is a failing, divided government incapable of gripping problems facing the country from the cost of living crisis to state of the NHS.

“More proof that after 14 years it’s time for change. Only Labour has a plan to turn the page and get our future back.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “It is utterly ludicrous that the Conservative Party is even discussing installing a fourth prime minister without even giving voters a say.

“It’s time for Rishi Sunak to… call a general election.”

Continue Reading

Politics

Ethereum gaming network Xai sues Musk’s xAI for trademark infringement

Published

on

By

Ethereum gaming network Xai sues Musk’s xAI for trademark infringement

Ethereum gaming network Xai sues Musk’s xAI for trademark infringement

Ethereum gaming network Xai claims Elon Musk’s AI firm xAI has caused market confusion and reputational harm.

Continue Reading

Politics

Fast-track asylum appeals process to be introduced – as average time for decisions is more than one year

Published

on

By

Fast-track asylum appeals process to be introduced - as average time for decisions is more than one year

A new fast-track asylum appeals process will be introduced to speed up the process of deporting people without a right to remain in the UK, the home secretary has said.

As it currently takes, on average, more than a year to reach a decision on asylum appeals, the government plans to set up a new independent panel focused on asylum appeals to help reduce the backlog.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said “completely unacceptable” delays in the appeals process left failed asylum seekers in the system for years.

There are about 51,000 asylum appeals waiting to be heard.

The new independent body will use professionally-trained adjudicators, rather than relying on judges.

Ministers are introducing a new 24-week deadline for the first-tier tribunal to determine asylum appeals by those receiving accommodation support and appeals by foreign offenders.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Police clash with protesters in Bristol

But they believe the current tribunal system, which covers a wide range of different cases, is still failing to ensure failed asylum seekers can be returned as swiftly as possible, nor can it accommodate a fast-track system for safe countries.

More on Asylum

It comes amid protests about the use of hotel accommodation for migrants.

The home secretary said the overhaul would result in a system which is “swift, fair and independent, with high standards in place”.

Read more from Sky News:
UK set to bask in 30C sunshine over bank holiday weekend
Coca-Cola brews up sale of high street coffee giant Costa

She said: “We inherited an asylum system in complete chaos with a soaring backlog of asylum cases and a broken appeals system with thousands of people in the system for years on end.

“That is why we are taking practical steps to fix the foundations and restore control and order to the system.

“We are determined to substantially reduce the number of people in the asylum system as part of our plan to end asylum hotels.

“Already since the election, we have reduced the backlog of people waiting for initial decisions by 24% and increased failed asylum returns by 30%.

“But we cannot carry on with these completely unacceptable delays in appeals as a result of the system we have inherited which mean that failed asylum seekers stay in the system for years on end at huge cost to the taxpayer.”

Official figures released earlier this month showed a total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.

Continue Reading

Politics

Reform UK’s new immigration plans would have been seen as extreme just a few years ago

Published

on

By

Reform UK's new immigration plans would've been extreme just a few years ago

Mass deportations. Prison camps. Quitting the Refugee Convention and the UN Convention on Torture.

A shrug of the shoulders at the idea of the UK sending asylum seekers back to places like Afghanistan or Eritrea, where they could be tortured or executed.

“I’m really sorry, but we can’t be responsible for everything that happens in the whole of the world,” says Nigel Farage.

“Who is our priority?”

The Reform UK leader has been setting out his party’s new plans to address illegal migration in an interview with The Times newspaper – a set of policies, and a use of language, which would surely have been seen as extreme just a few years ago.

Only last autumn the Reform leader repeatedly shied away from the concept of “mass deportations”, describing the idea as “a political impossibility”.

But now he’s embraced Trump-style immigration rhetoric.

More on Asylum

It’s not surprising that Reform want to capitalise on the outpouring of public anger over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers. The policy was started by the previous Conservative government, in response to housing shortages – and Labour has failed to make significant progress on its promise to stop it.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Asylum hotel protests set to rise

But all the major parties have shifted firmly to the right on this issue.

There’s been very little political criticism of the aggressiveness of Farage’s policy suggestions, and the premise that the UK should no longer offer sanctuary to anyone who arrives here illegally.

The Tory response has been to complain that he’s just copying the ideas they didn’t quite get round to implementing before calling the general election.

“Four months late, this big reveal is just recycling many ideas the Conservatives have already announced,” said Chris Philp MP, the shadow home secretary.

“Labour’s border crisis does urgently need to be fixed with tough and radical measures, but only the Conservatives have done – and will continue to do – the detailed work to deliver a credible plan that will actually work in practice.”

Read more from Sky News:
Menendez brothers denied parole – but they could still taste freedom

Five killed after tour bus returning from Niagara Falls crashes

Certainly, the ambition to arrest and deport everyone who arrives in a small boat – regardless of whether or not they have legitimate grounds for asylum – has clear echoes of the Tories’ Rwanda policy.

Despite spending £700m on the controversial idea, only four volunteers were ever sent to Kigali before it was cancelled by Sir Keir Starmer, who branded it a gimmick.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Reform putting ‘wheels in motion’ for migrant hotel legal challenges

Labour have suggested they’ve diverted Home Office resources that were freed up by that decision into processing asylum claims more quickly and increasing deportations.

They’re hoping tougher action against the criminal gangs and the new “one in one out” deal with France will help deter the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats in the first place, currently at record levels.

But rather than offering any defence of the principle of offering asylum to genuine refugees – Labour’s Angela Eagle MP, the border security minister, has also focused on the feasibility of Farage’s policies.

“Nigel Farage is simply plucking numbers out of the air, another pie in the sky policy from a party that will say anything for a headline,” she said.

“We are getting a grip of the broken asylum system. Making sure those with no right to be here are removed or deported.”

Even the Liberal Democrats have taken a similar approach.

“This plan sums up Nigel Farage perfectly, as like him it doesn’t offer any real solutions,” they said.

“Whilst Farage continues to stoke division, we Liberal Democrats are more interested in delivering for our local communities.”

It’s been left to the Refugee Council to defend the principle of asylum.

“After the horrors of the Second World War, Britain and its allies committed to protecting those fleeing persecution,” said CEO Enver Solomon.

“The Refugee Convention was our collective vow of ‘never again’ – a legal framework ensuring that people who come to our country seeking safety get a fair chance to apply for asylum.

“That commitment remains vital today. Whether escaping conflict in Sudan or repression under regimes like the Taliban, people still need protection.

“Most find refuge in neighbouring countries. But some will seek sanctuary in Europe, including Britain.

“We can meet this challenge by upholding a fair, managed system that determines who qualifies for protection and who does not.”

But with Reform leading in the polls, and protests outside hotels across the country – politicians of all stripes are under pressure to respond to public frustration over the issue.

A recent YouGov poll found half of voters now believe immigration over the last ten years has been mostly bad for the country – double the figure just three years ago.

Follow The World
Follow The World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

While the government has made some progress in reducing the cost of asylum hotels – down from £8.3m a day in 2023/4 to £5.77m a day in 2024/5 – the overall numbers accommodated in this way have gone up by 8% since Labour took charge, thanks to the surge in new claims.

Sir Keir has previously said he won’t make a promise he can’t keep.

But current efforts to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029 are clearly not working.

That’s a credibility gap Farage is more than ready to exploit.

Continue Reading

Trending