Rwanda bill: ‘We can as a nation do better’, says Archbishop of Canterbury

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1 year ago

January 29, 2024

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The Archbishop of Canterbury has again slammed the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, telling the House of Lords: “We can as a nation do better than this bill.”

Speaking in the upper chamber, the Most Rev Justin Welby said the government was “continuing to seek good objectives in the wrong way”, leading the country down a “damaging path” by insisting on pushing forward with its legislation.

And he accused ministers of seeking to “outsource our legal and moral responsibilities for refugees and asylum seekers”.

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MPs approved the Rwanda bill earlier this month, which aims to deport asylum seekers coming to the UK on small boats to the African nation as a deterrent from making Channel crossings.

But Rishi Sunak faced a backlash from his own benches, with around 60 Tory rebels voting to toughen up the law and 11 of his MPs voting the whole bill down.

Now it is facing its next parliamentary hurdle with the scrutiny of peers, many of whom have already publicly spoken out against the bill – especially around its ability to disapply human rights law and to ignore rulings made by the European Court of Human Rights to halt deportation flights.

The plan has already faced its first defeat in the upper chamber, after Lords voted against the ratification of the UK’s new treaty with the country – part of the government’s plan to address the fears of the Supreme Court, who ruled the scheme unlawful late last year.

The bill covering the overall plan is expected to pass its second reading this evening, mostly due to a convention for the unelected chamber not to create barriers to legislation from elected MPs at this stage.

But there is a plot by Liberal Democrat peers – who total 80 in the Lords – to ignore the practice and vote against it anyway.

And it is not stopping prominent figures in the Lords from speaking out against the plan.

Mr Welby, who as one of the 26 bishops of the Church of England is allowed to sit in the Lords, said the Rwanda bill “obscures the truth that all people, asylum seekers included, are of great value”.

He added: “It is damaging for asylum seekers in need of protection and safe and legal routes to be heard. It is damaging for this country’s reputation… It is damaging in respect of constitutional principles and the rule of law.

“And most of all, my lords, it is damaging for our nation’s unity in a time when the greatest issues of war, peace, defence and security need us to be united.”

Mr Welby said the “right way forward though is to enable the unity on ends to be translated into a unity on means”, adding: “The challenge of migration is… long term and global, and so must our response be.

“We need a wider strategy… for refugee policy which involves international cooperation and equips us for the far greater migration flows, perhaps 10 times greater, in the coming decades as a result of conflict and climate change and poverty

“Instead this bill offers only ad-hoc one off approaches.”

While Mr Welby said he would not vote against the bill at second reading, he and his spiritual colleagues take their “revising role seriously”.

Welby preaches to the converted

Jon Craig

Chief political correspondent

@joncraig

To a majority of members of the House of Lords, the government’s Rwanda bill is an unholy abomination.

Last week, their lordships voted by 214 votes to 171, a majority of 43, to delay ratification of the Rwanda treaty until safeguards have been implemented.

And in his speech during the second reading debate on the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, Mr Welby accused Rishi Sunak of a “pick and choose approach” to international law.

The archbishop began his speech by telling peers the heart of the Christian tradition was that strangers were welcomed.

“Jesus said ‘I was a stranger and you invited me in’,” he said.

And there were loud cries of “hear, hear!” from around the Lords’ chamber when the Archbishop declared: “We can as a nation do better than this bill.”

No-one could accuse the archbishop of contradicting himself on this issue. He led opposition in the Lords to the Illegal Migration Bill, which resulted in a series of defeats for the government.

He has previously described the Rwanda policy as “against the judgement of God” and he served notice in this debate that he’s prepared to play a full part in their lordships’ attempts to pull the Rwanda bill apart in the coming weeks.

Rishi Sunak has urged peers not to block “the will of the people”.

But Lord Welby’s argument, essentially, is that the will of God trumps the will of the people. And many of their lordships appear to agree.

Speaking for the government, Tory minister and Advocate General for Scotland, Lord Dirleton stood by the bill, saying it was a “shared objective” of peers to “stop the boats” and “doing nothing is not an option”.

He said: “There is nothing generous about letting the status quo continue, that would only serve the deplorable people smugglers to facilitate these dangerous crossings.

“It would only put more lives at risk and it would continue to strain our communities and our public services.”

But there were jeers from some peers when Lord Dirleton claimed the new legislation made it clear Rwanda was “a safe country”, and further unsettled noises when he said, while “novel”, the provisions in the bill could be implemented “in line with both our domestic law and our international obligations”.

Labour’s shadow minister, Lord Ponsonby, outlined his party’s opposition to the bill, telling peers: “This is the third time in as many years that the government has asked this house to consider legislation to stop boat journeys and to reform the asylum system.

“The third year of being presented with increasingly rushed, unworkable and inhumane solutions to the problem of small boats and asylum.”

But despite Labour’s issues – especially over the bill “threatening the UK’s compliance with international law” – Labour said it would not join the Lib Dems in voting it down at this stage.

However, the peer leading the plan to vote down the bill today, former leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, Lord German, said: “The treatment of asylum seekers and refugees… is completely contrary to how we should be acting as a country with a reputation for protecting individuals rights and freedoms where the rule of law is upheld.

“It was the settled will of this house last week that the treaty cannot yet by ratified, so how can this house consent to a bill which relies on that treaty having the approval of this house?”

Politics

‘Shameful’ that black boys in London more likely to die than white boys, says Met Police chief

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2 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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'Shameful' that black boys in London more likely to die than white boys, says Met Police chief

It is “shameful” that black boys growing up in London are “far more likely” to die than white boys, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley has told Sky News.

In a wide-ranging interview with Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the commissioner said that relations with minority communities are “difficult for us”, while also speaking about the state of the justice system and the size of the police force.

Sir Mark, who came out of retirement to become head of the UK’s largest police force in 2022, said: “We can’t pretend otherwise that we’ve got a history between policing and black communities where policing has got a lot wrong.

“And we get a lot more right today, but we do still make mistakes. That’s not in doubt. I’m being as relentless in that as it can be.”

He said the “vast majority” of the force are “good people”.

However, he added: “But that legacy, combined with the tragedy that some of this crime falls most heavily in black communities, that creates a real problem because the legacy creates concern.”

Sir Mark, who also leads the UK’s counter-terrorism policing, said black boys growing up in London “are far more likely to be dead by the time they’re 18” than white boys.

“That’s, I think, shameful for the city,” he admitted.

“The challenge for us is, as we reach in to tackle those issues, that confrontation that comes from that reaching in, whether it’s stop and search on the streets or the sort of operations you seek.

“The danger is that’s landing in an environment with less trust.

“And that makes it even harder. But the people who win out of that [are] all of the criminals.”

The commissioner added: “I’m so determined to find a way to get past this because if policing in black communities can find a way to confront these issues, together we can give black boys growing up in London equal life chances to white boys, which is not what we’re seeing at the moment.

“And it’s not simply about policing, is it?”

Sir Mark said: “I think black boys are several times more likely to be excluded from school, for example, than white boys.

“And there are multiple issues layered on top of each other that feed into disproportionality.”

‘We’re stretched, but there’s hope and determination’

Sir Mark said the Met is a “stretched service” but people who call 999 can expect an officer to attend.

“If you are in the middle of the crisis and something awful is happening and you dial 999, officers will get there really quickly,” Sir Mark said.

“I don’t pretend we’re not a stretched service.

“We are smaller than I think we ought to be, but I don’t want to give a sort of message of a lack of hope or a lack of determination.”

“I’ve seen the mayor and the home secretary fighting hard for police resourcing,” he added.

“It’s not what I’d want it to be, but it’s better than it might be without their efforts.”

‘Close to broken’ justice system ‘frustrating’ and ‘stressed’

Sir Mark said the criminal justice system was “close to broken” and can be “frustrating” for others.

“The thing that is frustrating is that the system – and no system can be perfect – but when the system hasn’t managed to turn that person’s life around and get them on the straight and narrow, and it just becomes a revolving door,” he said.

“When that happens, of course that’s frustrating for officers.

“So the more successful prisons and probation can be in terms of getting people onto a law-abiding life from the path they’re on, the better.

“But that is a real challenge. I mean, we’re talking just after Sir Brian Leveson put his report out about the close-to-broken criminal justice system.

“And it’s absolutely vital that those repairs and reforms that he’s talking about happen really quickly, because the system is now so stressed.”

Challenge to reform the Met

The Met chief’s comments come two years after an official report found the force is institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic.

Baroness Casey was commissioned in 2021 to look into the Met Police after serving police officer Wayne Couzens abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard.

She pinned the primary blame for the Met’s culture on its past leadership and found stop and search and the use of force against black people was excessive.

At the time, Sir Mark, who had been commissioner for six months when the report was published, said he would not use the labels of institutionally racist, institutionally misogynistic and institutionally homophobic, which Baroness Casey insisted the Met deserved.

However, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who helped hire Sir Mark – and could fire him – made it clear the commissioner agreed with Baroness Casey’s verdict.

A few months after the report, Sir Mark launched a two-year £366m plan to overhaul the Met, including increased emphasis on neighbourhood policing to rebuild public trust and plans to recruit 500 more community support officers and an extra 565 people to work with teams investigating domestic violence, sexual offences and child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Watch the full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am on Sunday.

Politics

Unite votes to suspend Angela Rayner over Birmingham bin strike

Published

2 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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Unite votes to suspend Angela Rayner over Birmingham bin strike

Labour’s largest union donor, Unite, has voted to suspend Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over her role in the Birmingham bin strike row.

Members of the trade union, one of the UK’s largest, also “overwhelmingly” voted to “re-examine its relationship” with Labour over the issue.

They said Ms Rayner, who is also housing, communities and local government secretary, Birmingham Council’s leader, John Cotton, and other Labour councillors had been suspended for “bringing the union into disrepute”.

There was confusion over Ms Rayner’s membership of Unite, with her office having said she was no longer a member and resigned months ago and therefore could not be suspended.

But Unite said she was registered as a member. Parliament’s latest register of interests had her down as a member in May.

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The union said an emergency motion was put to members at its policy conference in Brighton on Friday.

Unite is one of the Labour Party’s largest union donors, donating £414,610 in the first quarter of 2025 – the highest amount in that period by a union, company or individual.

The union condemned Birmingham’s Labour council and the government for “attacking the bin workers”.

Mountains of rubbish have been piling up in the city since January after workers first went on strike over changes to their pay, with all-out strike action starting in March. An agreement has still not been made.

Ms Rayner and the councillors had their membership suspended for “effectively firing and rehiring the workers, who are striking over pay cuts of up to £8,000”, the union added.

‘Missing in action’

General secretary Sharon Graham told Sky News on Saturday morning: “Angela Rayner, who has the power to solve this dispute, has been missing in action, has not been involved, is refusing to come to the table.”

She had earlier said: “Unite is crystal clear, it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette.

“Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts.

“The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises.

“People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer not workers.”

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said the government’s “priority is and always has been the residents of Birmingham”.

He said the decision by Unite workers to go on strike had “caused disruption” to the city.

“We’ve worked to clean up streets and remain in close contact with the council […] as we support its recovery,” he added.

A total of 800 Unite delegates voted on the motion.

Politics

Dozens of MPs call for UK government to recognise Palestine as state

Published

2 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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Dozens of MPs call for UK government to recognise Palestine as state

Nearly 60 Labour MPs have called on David Lammy and the Foreign Office to immediately recognise Palestine as a state.

A mix of centrist and left-wing MPs, including some committee chairs, wrote to the foreign secretary this week to say “by not recognising [Palestine] as a state, we undermine our own policy of a two-state solution and set an expectation that the status quo can continue and see the effective erasure and annexation of Palestinian territory”.

The 59 MPs suggest the government pursue five different measures to prevent the Israeli government from carrying out its Rafah plan, adding that they believed Gaza was being “ethnically cleansed” – a claim vehemently denied by Israel.

The letter was organised by Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East group.

It states that the Israeli plan, which would see the “population transfer to the southern tip of Gaza in preparation for deportation outside the strip”, is an accurate description, but that they believe a clearer way to describe it is the “ethnic cleansing of Gaza”.

Israeli officials have said they want to separate the civilian population from Hamas, which still controls parts of Gaza and holds dozens of hostages abducted in the October 7 attack that triggered the war 21 months ago.

Emmanuel Macron discussed recognising Palestine as a state at a joint news conference with Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday – the same day the letter was signed.

The French president said: “Today, working together in order to recognise the state of Palestine and to initiate this political momentum is the only path to peace.”

While France has not yet recognised a Palestinian state yet, Norway, Ireland and Spain coordinated their recognition last year.

The letter demands ministers take five different measures to:

• Recognise the state of Palestine
• Continue support for the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)
• Secure the release of hostages
• Press for the full and unhindered resumption of humanitarian aid
• Fully review and place restrictions on trade with and financial support of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank

The government says it is already providing funding for the UNRWA and working to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, but immediate recognition of Palestinian statehood will be a much more controversial move.

Sky News understands this is the second time MPs have formally called on the government to immediately recognise the state of Palestine, with previous letters signed by some parliamentary aides and even junior ministers.

Ministers have indicated their plan to recognise Palestine would be “at a time that is most conducive to the peace process” without further clarity of when that might be.

They have also indicated that it would not be suitable to speculate about future sanctions, as this could reduce their impact.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Since day one, this government has been clear that we need to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages cruelly detained by Hamas, better protection of civilians, much-needed food aid, medicines, shelter and other supplies immediately being allowed to enter Gaza, and a path to long-term peace and stability.

“The situation on the ground in Gaza is horrendous – for the hostages and for Palestinians – and we urgently want to see a deal done, to end the suffering on all sides.

“We are committed to recognising a Palestinian state and to doing so when will have most impact in support of a peace process. We continue to provide lifesaving aid to supporting Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and to work closely in support of the Palestinian Authority.”