What is the Rwanda deportation scheme and when will flights take off?

Published

9 months ago

April 23, 2024

admin

After months of delay, parliamentary bickering and legal challenges, Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill is set to become law.

Legislation for the prime minister’s controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to the landlocked African country cleared parliament last night after a lengthy battle.

The policy has been plagued by setbacks since it was first announced two years ago, with thousands of people arriving on Kent beaches aboard small boats all the while.

So what is the Rwanda bill and why is it so controversial? Here are some of the key questions, answered.

What is the Rwanda asylum plan?

Rishi Sunak’s promise to “stop the boats” is one of five pledges he has staked his premiership on.

Key to this is the Rwanda scheme, which would involve some asylum seekers being sent to Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed there.

If successful, they can be allowed to stay in Rwanda or seek asylum in another country. But they would not be able to apply to return to the UK.

Ministers say the policy will act as a deterrent to people thinking of travelling to the UK “illegally” (though whether or not crossing the English Channel in a small boat is actually illegal is complicated).

Why haven’t any planes taken off already?

The first plane carrying asylum seekers could take off in 10 to 12 weeks, the prime minister said ahead of the law passing, in what is another delay, having initially promised this would happen in the spring.

This would be more than two years since the first flight attempted under the deal was grounded amid last-minute legal challenges.

No asylum seekers have yet been sent to Rwanda.

While he refused to go into “sensitive” operations details on Monday, Mr Sunak did outline a number of measures the government was taking to prepare for the first flights to take off.

He said there were now 2,200 detention spaces and that 200 dedicated caseworkers had been trained to process claims quickly.

Around 25 courtrooms have been made available and 150 judges will provide 5,000 sitting days, he added.

Mr Sunak also said there were 500 “highly trained individuals ready to escort illegal migrants all the way to Rwanda, with 300 more trained in the coming week”.

In November, the Rwanda plan was ruled unlawful by the UK’s Supreme Court, which said those being sent to the country would be at “real risk” of being returned home, whether their grounds to claim asylum were justified or not – breaching international law.

Is Rwanda a safe country?

Much of the debate around the policy – putting aside differing views on whether it is effective or ethical – centres around the question of whether Rwanda is considered a “safe country”.

The government insists it is, although it’s worth pointing out that the UK granted asylum applications to 15 people from Rwanda last year.

According to Human Rights Watch, critics of the ruling political party in Rwanda have been “arrested, threatened, and put on trial”. Some said they were tortured in detention, the organisation added.

Who will be affected by the Rwanda scheme?

The Home Office plans to use the agreement with Rwanda to remove people who make dangerous journeys to the UK and are considered “inadmissible” to the UK’s asylum system – and will include people who have arrived irregularly since 20 July last year.

People whom the Home Office wishes to transfer to Rwanda will be identified and referred to the Rwandan authorities on a case-by-case basis, after an initial screening process following arrival in the UK, the government has said.

Although the agreement focuses on asylum seekers, under the treaty people who have made unauthorised journeys to the UK but not claimed asylum can be relocated to Rwanda as well.

What happened in parliament on Monday night?

On Monday, the Rwanda bill finally passed through the Commons and Lords and is now set to become law.

The legislation was introduced by the government in the wake of November’s Supreme Court ruling which had declared that Rwanda was not safe for refugees.

Since then, the government has signed a new treaty with Rwanda which it says contains additional safeguards for people relocated.

With the new bill, parliament was asked to declare that Rwanda must be treated as safe in order to render the relocation plan lawful in UK domestic law.

What happens now?

The bill is now headed for royal assent after passing through parliament, but it’s likely to still face various challenges.

Campaigners opposing the plans, and individual asylum seekers who are told they are to be sent to Rwanda, could look to take the government to court again in an attempt to stop flights.

Whether any legal challenges could be successful in light of the new law remains to be seen.

How much has this all cost?

A lot.

An investigation by Whitehall’s spending watchdog said the cost of the Rwanda scheme could rise to half a billion pounds, plus hundreds of thousands more for each person deported.

The government has refused to say how much more money, on top of the £290m already confirmed, that the UK had agreed to pay Rwanda under the deal. However, a National Audit Office report revealed millions more in spending including £11,000 for each asylum seeker’s plane ticket.

What are people opposed to the Rwanda asylum plan saying now the bill was passed?

The passing of the bill has sparked fresh condemnation from charities and other organisations.

Amnesty International said it will “leave a stain on this country’s moral reputation”.

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, added: “The bill is built on a deeply authoritarian notion attacking one of the most basic roles played by the courts – the ability to look at evidence, decide on the facts of a case and apply the law accordingly.

“It’s absurd that the courts are forced to treat Rwanda as a ‘safe country’ and forbidden from considering all evidence to the contrary.”

Politics

Tulip Siddiq boasted of links with ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Published

6 hours ago

January 13, 2025

admin

Tulip Siddiq boasted of links with ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Tulip Siddiq has sought to distance herself from her aunt, deposed Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina, claiming they never spoke about politics.

But Sky News can reveal that in a blog written by the now City minister she boasted about how close they were politically and published photos of them together.

In posts written in late 2008 and early 2009, when she was a Labour activist, Ms Siddiq described campaigning with her aunt in Bangladesh’s general election and celebrating her victory.

Our disclosure coincides with a new report in The Times which reveals how the embattled MP’s Labour Party flyers were found in the palace in Dhaka that belonged to her aunt, who was ousted in a coup last year.

The blog is headed: “Tulip Siddiq, member of the Labour Party action team in Bloomsbury and King’s Cross”, and in a post on January 11, 2009, Ms Siddiq told supporters: “I was really busy in Bangladesh as you probably gathered…

“I’ve put up photos of Sheikh Hasina’s post-election press conference at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka.

“The most significant element of this press conference for me was Sheikh Hasina’s insistence that all the political parties in Bangladesh need to work together for the welfare of the country.

“It is no secret that past governments have not worked with the other political parties and we need to change this trend.

“The prime minister emphasised that the Awami League does not support the ‘politics of vengeance’ which is encouraging so let’s hope that a new political culture is created this year.”

She added: “Here’s an action shot of me with the prime minister at the press conference. I’m not sure what I was saying but it probably wasn’t that interesting!”

In a post on January 21, 2009, she wrote: “I was fortunate enough to travel with Sheikh Hasina in her car during election day.

“The prime minister-elect (Prime Ministerial candidate at the time!) drove to several constituencies in Dhaka and stopped quickly at each one to meet the parliamentary candidate or speak to the voters.”

Describing traveling in her aunt’s car, she wrote: “You can see all my photos from election day here… I apologise for the poor quality of some of the pictures. I was taking photos from inside her car which is actually quite difficult!”

“You’ll also see a photo of Dhaka Central Jail. I took that photo because Sheikh Hasina told me that this jail was practically her second home for most of her childhood as her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was under arrest for many years.

“She told me that she visited him with the rest of her family every weekend, so it was a very familiar landmark.”

Earlier, on December 29, 2008, under the heading “Victory!”, Ms Siddiq wrote: “The Awami League have won the elections by a landslide! Sheikh Hasina is the prime minister-elect! I am ecstatic!

“I’ve been on the campaign trail with Sheikh Hasina all day so I don’t really have the energy to write much more but I will do so tomorrow.

“However, I can’t resist uploading a couple of photos. This is Sheikh Hasina’s face just before she heard the results from an unwinnable constituency.

“Here she is after she heard that the Awami League hard work had paid off in that seat.”

The Times reports that political literature of Ms Siddiq, Sir Keir Starmer’s anti-corruption minister, was found at the heavily guarded palace in Dhaka, covered by dust and debris.

At the top of a staircase were items produced by Ms Sidddiq. One was a thank you note to local Labour Party members following her election as MP for Hampstead and Kilburn.

Another was her annual report for 2022, inviting readers to learn about her help for those affected by the cost-of-living crisis.

The new disclosures will pile further pressure on Ms Siddiq and lead to further calls on the prime minister to sack her.

Many Labour MPs believe her ministerial career is now hanging by a thread.

On Sky News earlier, cabinet minister Peter Kyle told Trevor Phillips Ms Siddiq was right to submit herself to an ethics investigation over corruption allegations and strongly hinted she would be sacked if found to have broken the ministerial code.

Asked whether she should stand down until she is cleared of impropriety, Mr Kyle said: “I think she’s done exactly the right thing. She’s referred herself that the inquiry needs to go through. I think that that’s the appropriate way forward.

“I’m giving it all the space it needs to do. I’ll be listening for the outcome as the Prime Minister will be.

“There was a process underway and we know full well it will be a functional process, and the outcomes of it will be stuck to by the prime minister and this government, a complete contrast to what we’ve had in the past.”

Sky News has approached Ms Siddiq and the Labour Party for comment.

Politics

Even if Tulip Siddiq resigns, the damage may already be done to Sir Keir Starmer

Published

6 hours ago

January 13, 2025

admin

Even if Tulip Siddiq resigns, the damage may already be done to Sir Keir Starmer

There comes a point in the arc of most political scandals after which a resignation risks prompting more questions than it answers.

The danger for Tulip Siddiq – and by extension Sir Keir Starmer – is that threshold may about to be passed, if it hasn’t been already.

In other words, if she goes now, plenty will wonder why it didn’t happen sooner and why Downing Street allowed the story to gather pace and inflict further damage before acting.

The answer to this is partly because nothing has emerged so far that’s such an explicit rule break that it would trigger an automatic sacking or resignation.

That means the affair still resides – just about – in the box marked “looks bad” rather than the more sinister one marked “is bad”.

The standards adviser has been asked to “establish the facts” – a classic political technique to try and smother a story by announcing an inquiry.

What are the allegations against Ms Siddiq?

The allegations centre on financial links between Tulip Siddiq and political allies of her aunt – the former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina.

Ms Siddiq currently rents a £2m house in north London owned by a businessman with reported links to Ms Hasina’s Awami League party.

She also owns a flat in central London that the Financial Times reports was gifted to her by an ally of her aunt.

And she was registered at another London property that was transferred to her sister in 2009 by a lawyer who has represented Ms Hasina’s government.

Cabinet minister Peter Kyle told Sky News the outcome of that exercise “will be stuck to”, meaning the junior Treasury minister will be relieved of her responsibilities if a breach of the government’s code of conduct is identified.

But some within Labour are contrasting this case with the rapid resignation of Louise Haigh as transport secretary after Sky News revealed she had pleaded guilty to an offence in court shortly before becoming an MP.

They suggest the key difference is that Ms Haigh was relatively left-wing and at odds with some in Downing Street, while Ms Siddiq is a constituency neighbour and ally of the prime minister.

“Keir Starmer has been consistently ruthless against people perceived to be more on the left of the party and very lenient with people perceived to be more on the right of the party,” said former Jeremy Corbyn adviser Andrew Fisher.

A counter to this is that Ms Siddiq is not a cabinet minister.

That said, she does oversee efforts to combat financial crime, money laundering and corruption – three activities she is now finding herself linked to, albeit in a different country.

The fact she pulled out from the chancellor’s trip to China this weekend also opens an easy attack line that the story is already stopping her from doing her job.

So where does this go now?

There is a chance that something may emerge that forces an immediate departure.

👉Listen to Politics At Jack And Sam’s on your podcast app👈

Engaging the standards adviser may also backfire if a technical breach potentially relating to declarations or conflicts of interest is found.

But a third option is potentially most damaging for the government – that Ms Siddiq becomes politically paralysed by the volume of stories surfacing and is forced to step down simply to stem the flow.

Politics

UK to ‘mainline AI in the veins’ under new plans from Sir Keir Starmer

Published

6 hours ago

January 13, 2025

admin

UK to 'mainline AI in the veins' under new plans from Sir Keir Starmer

The government will “mainline AI into the veins” of the UK, with plans being unveiled today by Sir Keir Starmer.

The prime minister is set to promise investment, jobs and economic growth due to a boom in the sector.

It comes as his government battles against allegations they are mismanaging the economy and stymied growth with the budget last autumn.

The government’s announcement claims that, if AI is “fully embraced”, it could bring £47bn to the economy every year.

And it says that £14bn is set to be invested by the private sector, bringing around 13,000 jobs.

The majority of those would be construction roles to build new data centres and other infrastructure, with a smaller number of technical jobs once the work is finished.

Sir Keir said: “Artificial Intelligence will drive incredible change in our country. From teachers personalising lessons, to supporting small businesses with their record-keeping, to speeding up planning applications, it has the potential to transform the lives of working people.

“But the AI industry needs a government that is on their side, one that won’t sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers. And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move fast and take action to win the global race.”

The prime minister added that he wants Britain to be “the world leader” in AI.

The government announcement said: “Today’s plan mainlines AI into the veins of this enterprising nation.”

To achieve this, the government will implement all 50 recommendations made by Matt Clifford following his review last year.

This includes creating new AI “growth zones” – the first of which is set to be in Culham, Oxfordshire, where the UK’s Atomic Energy Authority is based.

These zones will get faster planning decisions and extra power infrastructure.

The government also wants to increase UK computing power 20-fold by 2030, including by building a brand-new supercomputer.

Labour cancelled a planned supercomputer when it entered office, as it claimed it wasn’t funded. The new venture is expected to be a joint public-private project.

The government says its plans will have three pillars. This includes laying the foundations with new AI growth zones and the new supercomputer.

The second is to boost AI take up by the public and private sectors. New pilots for AI in the public service are set to be announced, and Sir Keir has written to all cabinet ministers, telling them to drive AI adoption and growth.

And the third pillar is keeping ahead of the pack, with the government set to establish a “team” to keep the UK “at the forefront of emerging technology”.

The announcement was welcomed by a slew of technology bosses.

👉Listen to Politics At Jack And Sam’s on your podcast app👈

Chris Lehane, the chief global affairs officer at OpenAI, which released ChatGPT, said: “The government’s AI action plan – led by the prime minister and [Science] Secretary Peter Kyle – recognises where AI development is headed and sets the UK on the right path to benefit from its growth.

“The UK has an enormous national resource in the talent of its people, institutions and businesses which together, can leverage AI to advance the country’s national interest.”

The shadow secretary for science, innovation and technology, Alan Mak, said: “Labour’s plan will not support the UK to become a tech and science superpower. They’re delivering analogue government in a digital age.

“Shaping a successful AI future requires investment, but in the six months leading up to this plan, Labour cut £1.3bn in funding for Britain’s first next-generation supercomputer and AI research whilst imposing a national insurance jobs tax that will cost business in the digital sector £1.66bn.

“AI does have the potential to transform public services, but Labour’s economic mismanagement and uninspiring plan will mean Britain is left behind.”