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Rishi Sunak has been accused of taking a “depraved bet” with broadcaster Piers Morgan over whether deportation flights to Rwanda will take off.

The prime minister is facing a backlash after appearing to accept the £1,000 wager about the stalled asylum policy.

Talk TV presenter Mr Morgan said: “I’ll bet you £1,000 to a refugee charity you don’t get anybody on those planes before the election. Will you take that bet?”

Mr Sunak then shook hands with Mr Morgan and said “of course I want to get people on the planes”.

The prime minister was immediately criticised by opposition MPs, who accused him of “gambling with people’s lives” and reducing vulnerable people “to a crude bet”.

The SNP have even reported Mr Sunak to his own independent adviser on ministers’ interests over what the party said was a potential breach of the ministerial code.

In a letter to Sir Laurie Magnus, SNP Cabinet Office spokesperson Kirsty Blackman said Mr Sunak’s actions fall “below the high standards people should expect of those in public life” and may breach ministerial code rules on avoiding conflicts with private interests.

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The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, in a post on X, said: “The lives of some of the most vulnerable people on the planet reduced to a crude bet. It’s just a game to these people. Depraved.”

Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth said: “Not a lot of people facing rising mortgages, bills and food prices are casually dropping £1,000 bets.

“It just shows that Rishi Sunak is totally out of touch with working people.”

Green MP Caroline Lucas said: “Words fail me that PM & Piers Morgan can be so callous about awful Rwanda policy that they place a bet on it.

“These are people’s lives they’re gambling over. Yet Sunak thinks nothing of agreeing a £1k bet. He’s supposed to be the head of government, not a punter in a casino.”

Read More:
What is the new Rwanda plan and why is it controversial?
Rwanda: ‘We can as a nation do better’, says Archbishop of Canterbury

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Which other countries have immigration policies that mirror the Rwanda scheme?

The prime minister’s official spokesman said the exchange with Mr Morgan showed he is “confident that those flights are getting off the ground”.

Asked if Mr Sunak believes he has taken the bet, the spokesman added: “I think what the clip presents is his absolute conviction in this legislation.”

Mr Sunak has made the Rwanda plan central to his promise to “stop the boats” and curb migrant crossings in the Channel. The government has spent at least £290m on the policy but no flights have taken off yet.

Time is running out to get flights in the air ahead of the next election, expected in the second half of this year.

Mr Sunak was dealt a huge blow last year when the Supreme Court ruled that the policy was unlawful.

He has put forward legislation aimed at avoiding future legal challenges, but this is facing heavy opposition in the House of Lords, which could significantly stall the bill’s passage through parliament.

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Jaguar Land Rover to ‘pause’ US shipments over Donald Trump tariffs

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Jaguar Land Rover to 'pause' US shipments over Donald Trump tariffs

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as the British car firm works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The US president has introduced a 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into the country, which came into force on Thursday.

JLR, one of the country’s biggest carmakers, exported about 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 – almost equal to the amount sold to the UK and the EU combined.

Follow live updates: Trump’s baseline 10% tariff kicks in

In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company behind the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.

“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”

The company released a statement last week before Mr Trump announced a “baseline” 10% tariff on goods from around the world, which kicked in on Saturday morning, on what he called “liberation day”.

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JLR reassured customers its business was “resilient” and “accustomed to changing market conditions”.

“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms,” the firm said.

Trading across the world has been hit by Mr Trump’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.

All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.

Read more: A red wall on Wall Street – but Trump seems to believe it will work out

Cars are the top product exported from the UK to the US, with exports worth £8.3bn in the year to the end of September 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

For UK carmakers, the US is the second largest export market behind the European Union.

Industry groups have previously warned the tariffs will force firms to rethink where they trade, while a report by thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research said more than 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK could be at risk.

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Two people die after caravan fire at holiday park in Lincolnshire

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Two people die after caravan fire at holiday park in Lincolnshire

Two people have died following a fire at a caravan site near Skegness, Lincolnshire Police have said.

In a statement, officers said they were called at 3.53am on Saturday to a report of a blaze at Golden Beach Holiday Park in the village of Ingoldmells.

Fire and rescue crews attended the scene, and two people were found to have died.

They were reported to be a 10-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man.

The force said the victims’ next of kin have been informed and will be supported by specially trained officers.

Officers are trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.

“We are at the very early stages of our investigation and as such we are keeping an open mind,” the force said.

Two fire crews remain at the scene.

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Boy dies after ‘getting into difficulty’ in lake in southeast London

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Boy dies after 'getting into difficulty' in lake in southeast London

A 15-year-old boy has died after “getting into difficulty” in a lake in southeast London, police say.

Officers and paramedics were called shortly after 3pm on Friday to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham.

The Metropolitan Police said a boy “was recovered from the lake” at around 10.42pm the same day.

“He was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious,” according to the force.

The boy’s family has been told and are being supported by specialist officers.

The force originally said the child was 16 years old, but has since confirmed his age as 15.

In the earlier statement, officers said emergency services carried out a search and the park was evacuated.

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google street view inside Beckenham Place park, Lewisham where a 16 y/o boy is missing after getting into difficulty in a lake
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Emergency teams were called to Beckenham Place Park on Friday afternoon

Beckenham Place Park, which borders the London borough of Bromley, covers around 240 acres, according to the park’s website.

The lake is described as 285 metres long, reaching depths of up to 3.5 metres.

It is designed as a swimming lake for open-water swimming and paddle boarding.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said on Friday: “We were called at 3.02pm this afternoon to reports of a person in the water.

“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.”

Emergency teams have not explained how the boy entered the water, or whether he was accompanied by others.

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