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The threat of deportation to Rwanda is causing migrants to head for Ireland instead of the UK, Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said.

The Rwanda Bill, which will see asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” sent to the central African nation – regardless of the outcome of their application – was passed on Tuesday, despite human rights concerns.

Micheal Martin told The Daily Telegraph that the policy was already affecting Ireland, as people were “fearful” of staying in the UK.

The former Taoiseach said: “Maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have.”

Mr Martin, who is also Ireland’s foreign secretary, said asylum seekers were seeking “to get sanctuary here and within the European Union as opposed to the potential of being deported to Rwanda”.

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His words follow those of justice minister Helen McEntee, who told a scrutiny committee in the Irish parliament earlier this week that migrants and refugees were crossing the border with Northern Ireland.

Ms McEntee said “higher than 80%” of people seeking asylum in Ireland entered the country through Northern Ireland, a border crossing that is open as guaranteed under a UK-EU Brexit treaty.

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It comes amid increasing tension over immigration levels in Ireland, which is grappling with a housing crisis that has affected its own people as well as asylum seekers.

Overnight, six people were arrested during a protest at a site earmarked to house asylum seekers in Newtownmountkennedy in Co Wicklow.

Gardai said officers came under attack after workers were brought onto the site, suffering “verbal and physical abuse throughout the day, which escalated into rocks and other missiles being thrown this evening”.

Fires were lit, an axe was found and officers were “forced to defend themselves” with incapacitant spray, helmets and shields.

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Three patrol cars were also damaged.

Irish broadcaster RTE said protesters accused gardaí of using unnecessary force, and intimidating and aggressive tactics against a legitimate and peaceful protest.

According to RTE, there have been protests during the past six weeks at the site, known as Trudder House or River Lodge.

It is reportedly being considered as a site for 20 eight-person tents housing asylum seekers but some locals have said it is unsuitable and the village’s resources are already over-stretched.

Ms McEntee said there was “a lot of misinformation about migration at the moment”.

She tweeted late on Thursday to promote the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, which she described as “a real game changer” and “something we must opt into”.

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Tulip Siddiq faces new corruption investigation in Bangladesh

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Tulip Siddiq faces new corruption investigation in Bangladesh

Anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq has been named by investigators in Bangladesh who allege she was involved in the illegal allocation of land to members of her family while serving as an MP.

Sky News has obtained an affidavit – or legal written statement – filed by the anti-corruption commission in Bangladesh that accuses Ms Siddiq and others of being involved in fraudulently obtaining plots in the diplomatic zone of a development near to the country’s capital Dhaka.

The document states: “While serving as a Member of the British parliament, it is known that [Ms Siddiq] exerted pressure and influence on her aunt, the former prime minister, to take measures for the allotment of plots in the same project in the names of her mother, Mrs Rehana Siddiq, her sister Ms Azmina Siddiq, and her brother Mr Radwan Mujib Siddiq.”

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Tulip Siddiq MP in 2019. Pic: Reuters
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Tulip Siddiq MP in 2019. Pic: Reuters

The director general of the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission Akhtar Hossain told Sky News: “Tulip Siddiq and former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina misused… power to take the plot from the Purbachal New Town Project.”

Investigators allege that planning officials were bribed and pressured into fraudulently allocating land.

A Labour source said Tulip Siddiq totally refutes the claims and had not been contacted by anyone on the matter.

The source also said no evidence had been presented for the allegations.

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Tulip Siddiq is asked if she will step down but gives no indication one way or the other.

Tulip Siddiq had already been named in Bangladeshi court documents, also seen by Sky News, relating to alleged embezzlement from a nuclear power project in the country.

Labour sources suggested the accusations were not genuine.

That court claim was made by Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of Ms Siddiq’s aunt – the former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Ms Hasina fled Bangladesh in August and resigned her post amid weeks of deadly protests.

The new government has since accused the previous Awami League administration of crimes and corruption while in office.

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Tulip Siddiq has come under increasing pressure over her links to her aunt’s political party, with Sky News revealing she boasted about her connections to the Awami League in blog posts from 2008 and 2009.

The anti-corruption minister has also been found to have lived in several London properties with links to alleged allies of her aunt’s regime.

Tulip Siddiq (far left) with her aunt, Sheikh Hasina (third left), and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a 2013 signing ceremony in the Kremlin as Moscow lent $1.5bn to help build a nuclear power station. File pic: AP
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Tulip Siddiq (far left) with her aunt, Sheikh Hasina (third left), and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a 2013 signing ceremony in the Kremlin as Moscow lent $1.5bn to help build a nuclear power station. File pic: AP

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has since called for her to be suspended as a minister.

The UK Anti-Corruption Coalition has also said Ms Siddiq should step aside from the money laundering and economic crime brief she currently holds.

“The clear conflict of interest surrounding Tulip Siddiq presents a key test for the new government… as anti-corruption experts, it is clear to us that she should not hold responsibility for these sensitive areas in her portfolio”, said Peter Munro, senior coordinator at the anti-corruption coalition.

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20mph: Data reveals how many people broke speed limit on Welsh roads in 2024

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20mph: Data reveals how many people broke speed limit on Welsh roads in 2024

More than 85,000 people exceeded the 20mph speed limit on Welsh roads last year, according to new data.

The figures from GoSafe, the road safety partnership, show that the majority of the offences (48,551) took place in Mid and South Wales.

The default speed limit in Wales’s built-up areas was reduced from 30mph to 20mph in September 2023.

August was the month which saw the highest number of speeding offences on 20mph roads, with 15,284 breaches recorded across Wales.

The Welsh government said the change in speed limit would reduce serious collisions and save lives, pointing to international evidence where the limit was reduced, such as in Spain.

In the first quarter of 2024, there were 316 road collisions on 20 and 30mph roads in Wales – 25% lower than for the same period in 2023, according to Welsh government figures.

Other parts of the UK have also introduced a similar change. In 2020, Glasgow City Council voted to cut the speed limit on its residential streets. In London, a number of major roads have also seen a 20mph limit introduced.

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The policy faced significant opposition from some quarters in Wales, including a record-breaking petition on the Senedd‘s website.

Politicians in Cardiff Bay said they received “threatening” messages over their stance on the rollout.

But last month, the Welsh government won an international road safety award for introducing the policy.

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Last April, a review of the default speed limit was announced and the Welsh government later published revised guidance for local councils.

Announcing the review, transport minister Ken Skates said he was working to get “the right speed on the right roads”.

Councils then asked the public to have their say, with some roads that were previously 30mph switching back from September.

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Kemi Badenoch says grooming gang abusers are ‘peasants’ from ‘sub-communities’ in other countries

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Kemi Badenoch says grooming gang abusers are 'peasants' from 'sub-communities' in other countries

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said grooming gang perpetrators are “peasants” from “sub-communities” in other countries.

She has now met survivors after revealing last week she had not met any while calling for a new national inquiry into the scandal that saw thousands of mainly white girls being abused by men of mainly Pakistani origin.

Ms Badenoch said she was shocked by their stories and an inquiry needs to look at “cultural issues”.

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“There is a systematic pattern of behaviour not even just from one country, but from sub-communities within those countries, people with a particular background, particular class background, work background,” she told GB News.

“You know, people [who are] very, very poor, sort of peasant background, very, very rural, almost cut off from even the home origin countries that they might have been in.

“They’re not necessarily first generation. The jobs that they were doing… allowed them to exhibit this predatory behaviour.”

She also said there is another issue of the “culture of silence, the culture of ‘computer says no’, the culture of ‘move along, nothing to see here’, the culture of ‘this is not our problem’, which is on the side of the state”.

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Grooming gangs: What happened?

The Tory leader said a national inquiry needs to look at both “cultural issues” at the same time.

She has repeatedly clashed with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as she calls for a new national inquiry.

The government has said another national inquiry is not needed after a seven-year inquiry was published in 2022 by Professor Alexis Jay.

It has said the focus should instead be on implementing the 20 recommendations made by Professor Jay, and is in favour of locally-led inquiries.

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Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch arrives to give evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry.
Pic: PA
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Ms Badenoch is calling for a new national inquiry. Pic: PA

Tech billionaire Elon Musk brought the issue to international attention as he attacked Sir Keir for his involvement in prosecuting grooming gangs while he was chief prosecutor from 2008-2013. The prime minister has pushed back against Mr Musk’s claims.

Ms Badenoch said a national inquiry would shine a light on the truth and hold people to account.

“This is about those victims who deserve justice,” she said.

“The survivors who deserve justice by making sure that every single perpetrator we can find is caught and brought to justice, and those who failed in their duty to protect their children are held to account and exposed.”

Her comments came as the Labour MP for Rotherham Sarah Champion called for a national inquiry into grooming gangs, but led locally.

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