Government ‘operationalising’ Rwanda flights amid reports RAF Voyagers could be used
The government is “working on operationalising” Rwanda flights, a minister has said – amid reports RAF planes could be used for the controversial deportation scheme.
Laura Trott did not deny a story in The Times newspaper which said migrants might have to be flown to the east African nation on RAF Voyagers because the Home Office has failed to find an airline willing to take them.
Politics Live: Rwanda plan back in Commons after more Lords defeats
Asked by Sky News who is going to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda, the Treasury minister pointed to comments on Tuesday made by her colleague Laura Farris, a Home Office minister, who said the government is “operationally close to being ready”.
Ms Trott added: “I think I’m going to say the same thing that she said yesterday to you, which is that we are working on operationalising this, but we’re not going to go into details of how we’re going to do that.”
Asked if RAF Voyagers will be used, she said: “We will be ready for flights to take off in the spring when the legislation passes.”
When it was pointed out that we are now heading towards May, she said: “There are many definitions of spring but we’re hoping to get them up and running as quickly as possible.”
The Voyager is the RAF’s only air-to-air tanker and can also be used as strategic air support.
According to The Times, Rishi Sunak is poised to release a fleet of these jets to be used for the deportation scheme.
The prime minister refused to comment on the report, telling broadcasters on Wednesday: “Once on the statute books we will do everything we can do to get flights off to Rwanda.”
A government spokesperson said last night: “We make no apology for pursuing bold solutions to stop illegal migration, dismantle the people smuggling gangs and save lives.
“We have robust operational plans in place to get flights off the ground to Rwanda.”
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Sunak won’t give date for Rwanda flights
The scramble to find aircraft comes as the bill to revive the policy remains wrangled in parliamentary “ping pong” after the House of Lords gave it a fresh beating on Tuesday.
Downing Street wants to get the legislation – which declares Rwanda a safe country and stops appeals from asylum seekers being sent there on safety grounds – on the statute books this week.
The bill was brought forward after the Supreme Court ruled in November that the plan to send people on a one-way flight to Kigali was unlawful.
However, it has faced fierce opposition in the House of Lords, Peers have insisted on amendments which restore the jurisdiction of domestic courts in relation to the safety of Rwanda and enable them to intervene.
Peers also want the bill to have “due regard” for international and key domestic laws, including human rights and modern slavery legislation.
In addition, they have backed a requirement that Rwanda cannot be treated as a safe country until an independent monitoring body has verified that protections contained in the treaty are fully implemented and remain in place.
Their insistence on the safeguards, which MPs in the House of Commons has rejected, has resulted in the bill being stuck in a process dubbed as “ping pong”, when the two chambers battle out the legislation until an agreement on wording can be reached.
Read more:
A win on Rwanda won’t automatically translate into victory for Sunak
The latest government setbacks mean the proposed law will be debated again by MPs on Wednesday before once again being passed back to the Lords.
The Rwanda policy was first announced two years ago by the then prime minster Boris Johnson as a deterrent to Channel crossings.
Mr Sunak is under pressure to get it going before the upcoming general election, having staked his premiership on “stopping the boats”.
Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced she has split from her husband, Peter Murrell.
Ms Sturgeon and Ms Murrell met via the SNP and first became a couple in 2003. They later married in July 2010 at Oran Mor in Glasgow.
Ms Sturgeon with Mr Murrell following their wedding service at Oran Mor in Glasgow in 2010. Pic PA
Mr Murrell giving Ms Sturgeon a kiss after she was voted in as first minister in 2014. Pic: PA
In a statement posted to Instagram stories, she wrote: “With a heavy heart I am confirming that Peter and I have decided to end our marriage.
“To all intents and purposes we have been separated for some time now and feel it is time to bring others up to speed with where we are.
“It goes without saying that we still care deeply for each other, and always will.
“We will be making no further comment.”
Ms Sturgeon announcing the split on Instagram
Ms Sturgeon unexpectedly announced she was stepping down as Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader in February 2023 after succeeding Alex Salmond following the independence referendum in 2014.
Mr Murrell, who had been SNP chief executive since 2001, resigned from his post the following month after taking responsibility for misleading the media over party membership numbers amid the leadership race, which Humza Yousaf went on to win.
At the time, he said: “While there was no intent to mislead, I accept that this has been the outcome.”
In April 2023, Mr Murrell was arrested as part of a probe into the SNP’s funding and finances. He was later charged with embezzling SNP funds in April last year.
Ms Sturgeon and ex-party treasurer MSP Colin Beattie have also been arrested and released without charge as part of Police Scotland’s long-running Operation Branchform.
The probe, which has been ongoing since July 2021, is linked to the spending of around £600,000 raised by SNP supporters to be earmarked for Scottish independence campaigning.
Ms Sturgeon continues to deny any wrongdoing. In an interview last month, the Glasgow Southside MSP said she knew “nothing more” about the inquiry and was getting on with life “as best I can at the moment”.
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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.
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Labour’s Tulip Siddiq risks losing job
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!”
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‘Tulip Siddiq will lose job if she broke rules’
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.
Read more:
Even if Siddiq resigns, the damage may already be done to Starmer
Badenoch calls on PM to sack minister over property allegations
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.
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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.
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