Sir Keir Starmer has ‘no doubt’ Rwanda flights will get off ground – but Labour would cancel scheme ‘straight away’
Sir Keir Starmer has said he has no doubt the government will get flights off the ground to Rwanda but Labour would “cancel the scheme straight away” if they win the next general election.
The Labour leader, announcing his party’s policy on illegal immigration in Dover, said the government’s flagship policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda will not work.
“They will get flights off the ground, I don’t doubt that but I also don’t doubt it will not work,” he said.
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When asked by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby if that means he would stop any deportation flights to Rwanda on day one of a Labour government, he said: “We will scrap the Rwanda scheme.
“I said that to you when we last met last week, the time before last and you know, that means ending the scheme.
“Absolutely. Flights and all.”
He added: “We will cancel the scheme – of course that means we won’t operate the scheme at all, it’s a gimmick, I won’t flog a dead horse.
“We’re going to get rid of the policy straight away.”
Labour later clarified the party would not stop any flights already planned but would not schedule any further.
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‘Small boat crossings is one of the greatest challenges we face’
The government’s Rwanda scheme, aimed at deterring asylum seekers arriving in the UK in boats over the Channel, has been stalled by legal arguments but last month became law. However, no flights have yet departed.
The scheme means any asylum seeker entering the UK illegally from a safe country such as France could be sent to Rwanda where their asylum claims would be processed. They would not be allowed to apply to return to the UK.
As Sir Keir announced Labour’s plans to stop small boats coming across to the UK, Sky News witnessed a Border Force boat with about 70 migrants, including at least one child, disembarking in Dover after being picked up in the Channel.
In the speech in Dover alongside new Labour MP Natalie Elphicke, Sir Keir insisted “our asylum system must be rebuilt”.
As part of Labour’s plan, he announced:
• A new Border Security Command, funded by scrapping the Rwanda scheme, with “hundreds of specialist investigators” from the NCA, Border Force, CPS, MI5 and Immigration Enforcement
• Hopes for a new partnership with Europol and new intelligence-sharing networks
• New counter-terrorism powers to allow officers to conduct stop and searches at the border, close bank accounts, trace movements and shut off internet access of people smugglers
• A rules-based asylum system with fast-track reforms, an enforcement unit and a returns agreement with the EU.
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The Labour leader said: “We will restore serious government to our borders, tackle this problem at source and replace the Rwanda policy permanently.”
Turning a blind eye to people smuggling was “not a progressive or compassionate position”, Sir Keir said.
He said “our asylum system must be rebuilt and our borders must be secured”, and accused the Tories of being driven from a serious party of government “onto the rocks of their own delusion” in their pursuit of “gesture politics” over immigration.
“Our rules-based system should align with global rules that protect individual human rights,” Sir Keir added.
“That is in our interests and the right thing to do.”
Sir Keir Starmer with new Labour MP Natalie Elphicke. Pic: PA
Sir Keir insisted new Labour MP Ms Elphicke’s defection from the Tories on Wednesday reflected the mood of the country as Rishi Sunak is “clinging on” to power.
Asked if he was concerned about the backlash from within the Labour Party to Ms Elphicke’s defection, he said: “This is a very important and significant crossing of the floor for reasons Natalie set out.
“I think anyone reading the words she set out this morning would be persuaded this is a very significant thing, you’ve got a Tory party that is losing votes, losing MPs, losing councillors, losing mayors across the country.”
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Migrant pays to return to France
Reacting to Sir Keir’s announcement, Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Labour have no plan to stop the boats.
“Labour have an illegal immigration amnesty, Labour blocked of the deportation of violent sexual offenders and Labour voted over 130 times against tougher legislation to stop the boats. They will create a haven for criminal gangs, not stop them.
“Even Labour MPs are saying Labour can’t be trusted to stop the boats which shows you nothing will change.
“If people can apply for asylum from outside the UK then unlimited claims can be made, many of which will have to be accepted under the law and even then, many of those declined will then get on a small boat anyway.”
After weeks of speculation among crypto enthusiasts and news outlets, Tron founder Justin Sun has claimed he owns the wallet that purchased the largest amount of Donald Trump’s memecoin, allowing him to qualify for a dinner and reception with the US president.
In a May 19 X post, Sun said he had received an invitation to attend Trump’s dinner at his golf club outside Washington, DC, as part of a reward for the top 220 memecoin holders. The Tron founder claimed he controlled the top wallet on the TRUMP token leaderboard under the username “Sun,” which held roughly $19 million worth of the memecoin at a price of $13.20.
According to Sun, he plans to network at the May 22 memecoin dinner, “talk crypto,” and “discuss the future” of the industry. It’s unclear why the Tron founder chose to announce his planned presence at the event now, when the leaderboard was finalized on May 12.
Cointelegraph reached out to a spokesperson for Sun for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Though not a surprise to many who speculated that Sun was the individual behind the memecoin purchases, his attendance at the dinner only deepens his ties to the Trump administration and the president’s family. In addition to the dinner for the 220 tokenholders, Trump said he would hold a reception and “VIP tour” for the top 25 wallets on the leaderboard.
Related: What to expect at Trump’s memecoin dinner
Sun spent $75 million on tokens through World Liberty Financial, the crypto platform backed by Trump’s three sons, including a $30 million investment a few weeks after the 2024 election. The Tron founder is also an adviser to the company.
Before Trump won the November election, Sun had been facing a lawsuit from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed in 2023 over the alleged “orchestration of the unregistered offer and sale, manipulative trading, and unlawful touting of crypto asset securities.” In February, roughly a month after Trump took office and appointed Commissioner Mark Uyeda as acting chair of the SEC, the regulator and Sun jointly filed a motion for a federal judge to stay the case, which was granted.
Memecoin’s potential conflicts of interest are affecting Congress
Sun’s and others’ involvement in Trump’s crypto ventures has prompted calls for investigations and oversight among many Democratic lawmakers, who argued that some individuals could use digital assets to essentially purchase influence with the president. The concerns initially slowed progress on a bill to regulate stablecoins in the Senate, the GENIUS Act, complicated by World Liberty Financial’s own stablecoin, USD1. The chamber voted to move forward on the bill on May 19, a few hours before Sun’s announcement.
“How convenient: the day after the Senate advances the GENIUS Act, Justin Sun — a major investor in the Trump family crypto venture — announces he’s getting a private dinner as the president’s top crypto buyer,” said Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, according to Bloomberg. “It’s critical that everyone understands the GENIUS Act doesn’t stop this type of corruption — it greenlights it.”
At a May 20 oversight hearing, Maryland Representative Glenn Ivey questioned SEC Chair Paul Atkins on Sun’s case being stayed, as well as his investments in World Liberty Financial and Trump’s memecoin. Though the case was stayed before Atkins was sworn in as chair, Ivey expressed concern about the timeline between Sun’s investments and the SEC not pursuing its own enforcement action.
The memecoin dinner applicants are likely still subject to background checks before meeting Trump in person. As of May 20, those planning to attend included Kronos Research chief investment officer Vincent Liu, Hyperithm co-CEO Oh Sangrok, Synthetix founder Kain Warwick, a consultant named Vincent Deriu, crypto user Morten Christensen, a World Liberty Financial adviser going by the pseudonym “Ogle,” and a representative from the startup MemeCore.
Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions
Politics
Shouts of ‘genocide’ in Commons as David Lammy denounces Israel’s ‘intolerable’ actions in Gaza
The foreign secretary has denounced Israel’s actions in Gaza as “intolerable” but stopped short of saying it had committed genocide.
MPs could be heard shouting “genocide” in the Commons chamber as David Lammy announced the government was suspending its trade negotiations with Israel and summoning Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s ambassador to the UK, to the Foreign Office.
The UK has also sanctioned a number of individuals and groups in the West Bank which it says have been linked with acts of violence against Palestinians – including Daniella Weiss, a leading settler activist who was the subject of Louis Theroux’s recent documentary The Settlers.
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Israel immediately criticised the UK government actions as “regrettable” and said the free trade agreement talks, which ministers have now backed out of, were “not being advanced at all by the UK government”.
Oren Marmorstein, a spokesperson for the Israeli foreign affairs ministry, said: “If, due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British government is willing to harm the British economy – that is its own prerogative.”
Mr Lammy’s intervention came in response to Israel ramping up its latest military offensive in Gaza and its decision to limit the amount of aid into the enclave.
Tom Fletcher, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, accused Israel of “deliberately and unashamedly” imposing inhumane conditions on Palestinians by blocking aid from entering Gaza more than 10 weeks ago.
He also told the UN’s security council last week that it must “act now” to “prevent genocide” – a claim that Israel has vehemently denied.
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Aftermath of strike on Gaza school-turned-shelter
Speaking in the Commons, the foreign secretary said the threat of starvation was “hanging over hundreds of thousands of civilians” and that the 11-week blockade stopping humanitarian aid reaching Gaza was “indefensible and cruel”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to allow a limited amount of aid into the besieged enclave in response to global concern at reports of famine.
Mr Lammy said Mr Netanyahu’s govenrment was “isolating Israel from its friends and partners around the world, undermining the interests of the Israeli people and damaging the image of the state of Israel in the eyes of the world”.
“We are now entering a dark new phase in this conflict,” Mr Lammy added.
“Netanyahu’s government is planning to drive Gazans from their homes into a corner of the strip to the south and permit them a fraction of the aid that they need.”
Referring to one of the far-right ministers in Mr Netanyahu’s government, he said Bezalel Smotrich “even spoke of Israeli forces cleansing Gaza, destroying what’s left of residents, Palestinians being relocated, he said, to third countries”.
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Surgeon compares Gaza to ‘killing fields’
MPs from across the house shouted “genocide” as Mr Lammy said: “We must call this what it is. It is extremism. It is dangerous. It is repellent. It is monstrous and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
In the Commons, a number of Labour MPs urged the government to go further against Israel.
Yasmin Qureshi, the Labour MP for Bolton South and Walkden, said there needed to be a “full arms embargo” and said: “Can I ask the foreign secretary what additional steps he’s going to be taking in order to stave off this genocide?”
Another Labour MP told Sky News that while the statement was “better than previously…without a concrete timeline and a sanctioning of responsible ministers, it’s hard to know what tangible difference it will make.”
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Israeli officials have said its plans to seize all of Gaza and hold it indefinitely. – which would move the civilian population southward – will help it achieve its aim of defeating Hamas.
Israel also believes the offensive will prevent Hamas from looting and distributing humanitarian aid, which it says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu has defended Israel’s actions in Gaza and reacted angrily to a joint statement penned by the leaders of the UK, France and Canada, in which they urged Israel to end its military offensive in Gaza and lift restrictions on humanitarian aid allowed into the enclave.
The Israeli prime minister said: “By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities.
“No nation can be expected to accept anything less and Israel certainly won’t. This is a war of civilisation over barbarism. Israel will continue to defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved.”
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Paul Atkins appeared before lawmakers in one of his first hearings since becoming chair of the financial regulator, addressing questions about his plans for the cryptocurrency industry.
In a May 20 hearing discussing oversight of the SEC, Atkins reiterated his pledge to make regulating digital assets a “key priority” while chair. In response to questions from North Carolina Representative Chuck Edwards, the SEC chair did not directly answer how much of the regulator’s funds were used to support the crypto task force headed by Commissioner Hester Peirce, and said its findings were “still under development.”
“We should be having something here in the next few months with proposed steps forward,” said Atkins in response to the task force’s first report.
The SEC chair’s appearance at the oversight hearing was one of his first since being sworn into office in April. Nominated by Donald Trump, Atkins, also a former commissioner, was seen by many lawmakers and those in the digital asset industry as someone who could radically change the SEC’s approach to crypto.
Looking to Congress for help with regulatory clarity
Atkins’ remarks came less than 24 hours after US Senators voted to move forward on consideration of a bill to regulate stablecoins, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act, or GENIUS Act. The bill is one of many related to aspects of digital assets that could affect how the SEC regulates the industry alongside agencies like the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
“Whatever happens in Congress […] that will help undergird what we do,” said Atkins.
Related: Paul Atkins: ‘Crypto markets have been languishing in SEC limbo’
Since being sworn into office in April, the SEC chair has given opening remarks and overseen the commission’s roundtable events on digital assets. The next event, scheduled for June 9, will have SEC commissioners and industry leaders discuss issues related to decentralized finance.
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