Category Archives: Immigration and asylum

Visitors to UK who incite antisemitism will be removed, says minister

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Robert Jenrick says process of revoking visas of foreign nationals who spread ‘hate and division’ has already begun

The UK immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, has suggested that visitors to the country will be removed if they incite antisemitism, even if their conduct falls “below the criminal standard”.

Jenrick said he could not get into “specific cases” of visa-holders whose conduct is being reviewed, saying there was a “legal process that must be followed properly”, but noted some people had been seen “glorifying” terror activities and “praising Hamas”.

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Plan for UK to host thousands of Gaza refugees drawn up by charities

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Groups urge government to introduce emergency family reunion scheme modelled on initiative for Ukrainians

A blueprint setting out how Britain could provide refuge to thousands of Palestinians from Gaza has been drawn up by a coalition of charities and groups.

Organisations including the Refugee Council, Safe Passage International, Doctors of the World, Helen Bamber Foundation and City of Sanctuary have raised concerns about the conflict worsening the Palestinian refugee crisis.

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Labour peer Alf Dubs calls for refugee plan for Palestinians

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Former refugee says scheme could help people with family connections to Britain and those in need of medical aid

Alf Dubs, the veteran Labour peer and former child refugee, has called for the creation of a resettlement scheme for Palestinians with family connections to Britain and those in need of medical aid.

The peer, who came to Britain from Austria as a child fleeing the Nazis, also spoke of his concerns about rising antisemitism and Islamophobia against the backdrop of the crisis in Israel and Gaza.

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Homes for Ukraine funding halt could put thousands on streets, says watchdog

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Sponsorship arrangements for more than 130,000 Ukrainians who fled to UK are due to end next March

Thousands of Ukrainians who fled to the UK after the Russian invasion are at risk of homelessness if ministers go ahead with plans to end funding for a scheme set up to help them, parliament’s spending watchdog has said.

Funding and sponsorship arrangements for more than 130,000 people helped under the Homes for Ukraine scheme are due to end next March. Many of these people face losing their homes when this funding dries up, according to an investigation into the scheme by the National Audit Office (NAO).

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Tuesday briefing: The global impact of UK supreme court’s ruling on Rwanda deportation plan

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In today’s newsletter: A complicated legal battle over whether the UK government plan to send thousands of migrants to Rwanda could cause a fundamental shift in how asylum seekers are treated

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Good morning. Five supreme court judges are this week deciding whether the UK government plan to deport tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda should go ahead.

The decision of the UK’s highest court will be life-changing for more than 24,000 asylum seekers issued with letters warning them that they are being considered for forcible removal. It will also either make home secretary Suella Braverman’s “dream” come true or poleaxe a key part of Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats”.

Israel | The leaders of the UK, US, France, Germany and Italy have released a joint statement expressing “steadfast and united support” for the state of Israel and “unequivocal condemnation” of Hamas. Earlier, Israel declared a “complete siege” of Gaza, cutting off water, food and power supplies.

Environment | The damage caused by the climate crisis through extreme weather has cost $16m (£13m) an hour for the past 20 years, according to a new estimate.

Transport | A list of transport projects to be funded using HS2 money, which included schemes that had already been built or were swiftly deleted, was intended only to be “illustrative”, the prime minister has said.

Labour | A new Labour government would give all towns and cities in England new powers and funding to boost local economies, Keir Starmer will announce, in the biggest expansion of devolution since Labour was last in power.

Scotland | A hoard of coins linked to a Highland chief – which may have been stashed away as he tried in vain to escape the Glen Coe massacre – has been discovered underneath a fireplace.

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Rwanda accused of broad campaign of repression against dissidents

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Human Rights Watch report detailing alleged abuses at home and abroad raises questions over UK government’s asylum plan

Rwandan authorities are coordinating a systematic campaign of repression at home and abroad against political activists, suspected dissidents and their family members, according to a Human Rights Watch report, raising questions about plans by the UK government to send asylum seekers there.

The US-based rights group details an alleged campaign of extraterritorial killings, kidnappings and intimidation, as well as arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances on Rwandan soil.

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Working class deserting Tories in droves under Rishi Sunak, poll finds

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But report says Labour lead is much narrower among working-class voters than electorate as a whole and urges focus on fairness

Working-class people who were a key part of the coalition of voters that delivered the Conservatives’ 2019 general election win have been deserting the party in droves under Rishi Sunak’s leadership, polling has found.

Only 44% of working-class voters who voted for the Tories in 2019 say they will back the party next time, according to research by YouGov released as Keir Starmer prepares to make what will probably be his last pitch for support at a Labour conference before a general election.

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Labour’s Wes Streeting interviewed at Labour party conference – UK politics live

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Shadow health secretary questioned by Guardian editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner

Q: You oppose the Rwanda policy because you don’t think it will work. If the supreme court rules it is legal, and deportations start and it is seen to be working, would you still reverse it.

Yes, says Starmer. He says it is the wrong policy. It is very expensive, and it only affect only a small number of people. And the policy does not deal with the problem at source.

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UK outspends rest of Europe on housing asylum seekers by at least 40% a person

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Exclusive: Report by aid campaign One finds costs now take up nearly a third of the official aid budget

The UK is spending 40% a person more than any other European country on housing asylum seekers with the costs taking up nearly a third of the official aid budget, which forced a 16.4% cut in the amount of aid spent overseas in 2022.

The findings come in a report by One, the aid campaign, which argues the proportion of the aid budget being spent on housing refugees in the UK is totally out of sync with its neighbours and is making the British aid budget both unpredictable and unmanageable

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Suella Braverman criticised by Labour over ‘deeply divisive’ migration speech – as it happened

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Home secretary argued that ‘uncontrolled’ migration poses ‘existential challenge for institutions of the west’

The Sun is carrying a story today saying Rishi Sunak’s “decision to stall the net zero ban on selling new petrol cars has seen him catch up eight points in the polls”. It is based on the results of this Deltapoll poll.

For a more considered view, it is worth reading this article in the i by Prof Sir John Curtice, Britain’s leading psephologist. He says the impact of the net zero speech on the polls has been much more modest. Here is his conclusion.

Whatever the popularity of the measures, if, as has been alleged, Mr Sunak’s motivation was to try to reduce Labour’s lead, it looks as though he has so far reaped little reward. Four polls of voting intention conducted after last Wednesday’s announcement have so far been published. Between them they put Labour’s lead on 17 points – just a point below the polling average shortly before last week’s drama.

Moving the polls is, it seems, just as difficult as dealing with climate change.

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Tories urged to condemn Braverman for gay persecution comments on refugees

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UK home secretary in US to call for rewriting of UN asylum rules so they are ‘fit for the modern age’

A Labour MP has urged LGBTQ+ Conservatives to condemn Suella Braverman’s speech, in which she will say that Britain should not grant asylum to people who simply express a fear of persecution for being gay.

Ben Bradshaw, a former minister, made the call before a speech the home secretary is due to make in the US, where she will make her case for the rewriting of key international refugee rules so they are “fit for the modern age”.

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Tamil refugees on Diego Garcia win fight against forcible return to Sri Lanka

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British territory’s commissioner withdraws decision after supreme court challenge

A group of Tamil asylum seekers stranded on a tiny British territory in the Indian Ocean have won their fight against being forcibly returned to Sri Lanka after a government climbdown.

The group are on Diego Garcia, part of the Chagos Islands, which the UK calls the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) and over which it continues to claim sovereignty despite a UN court ruling that they are part of Mauritius.

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Dividing lines: where do Sunak and Starmer stand on key UK issues?

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Party leaders start to reveal clearer positions on policy areas ranging from net zero to transgender rights

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have faced off against each other for the past 11 months as leaders of their parties, but the time has been marked by frustration within their own ranks that they are failing to create clear dividing lines with their opponents.

That situation has begun to change. The Conservative leader suddenly seems more eager to lay out his own ideological credentials – even if recent net zero announcements were quickly rushed out in response to leaks.

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Braverman stopped immigration centre inspections despite safeguarding warnings

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Inspector says home secretary halted annual review of ‘adults at risk’ days after he raised concerns

Suella Braverman halted annual inspections of immigration detention centres such as Brook House last year, shortly after ministers received direct warnings that vulnerable people such as torture victims had been left unprotected, the immigration watchdog has disclosed.

In an article for the Guardian, David Neal, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration (ICIBI), said the home secretary stopped his annual review of “adults at risk” held in removal centres last September.

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Labour will not say how many migrants it would accept in EU returns deal

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Keir Starmer dismisses Tory claims of plan to oversee 100,000 extra arrivals as ‘complete garbage’

Labour will not say how many more migrants it would accept under a returns deal with the EU if it comes to power, as senior party figures insist that they do not want to be bound by quotas.

Keir Starmer said this week that if he became prime minister, he would seek a deal with the EU to return some new arrivals to mainland Europe while allowing others to enter Britain.

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Keir Starmer arrives in Canada to set out stall on immigration policy

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Diplomatic and media blitz for Labour leader will include appearances on Sunday morning political shows

Keir Starmer has arrived in Canada to set out his doctrine for tackling international threats at a gathering of world leaders, the latest step in the Labour leader’s move to flesh out policy in politically turbulent areas such as immigration.

Amid continued efforts by Starmer and his team to push back against the “nonsense” that closer cooperation with the EU would involve the UK having to accept 100,000 asylum-seekers a year, the Labour leader was in Montreal for the Global Progress Action Summit of centre-left politicians.

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Animal welfare groups criticise American XL bullies ban, saying they’re ‘deeply concerned’ about lack of evidence – UK politics live

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PM says breed, responsible for series of attacks, will be banned once it has been properly defined

Here is the full text of what Rishi Sunak said in his video statement about banning American XL bully dogs. (See 11.50am.)

The American XL bully dog is a danger to our communities, particularly our children.

I share the nation’s horror at the recent videos we’ve all seen. Yesterday we saw another suspected XL bully dog attack, which has tragically led to a fatality.

It’s clear the American XL Bully dog is a danger to our communities.

I’ve ordered urgent work to define and ban this breed so we can end these violent attacks and keep people safe.

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Starmer attacked from left and right after setting out plan to stop Channel crossings

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Labour leader accused of pandering to anti-migrant sentiments by those on the left while Tories seize on proposal for deal with EU

Keir Starmer was under attack from left and right on Thursday after he set out plans to stop small boat Channel crossings in Labour’s first big intervention on the issue.

Fleshing out his party’s proposals, the Labour leader promised to ditch the use of barges, hotels and military sites to house asylum seekers. He also promised to recruit 1,000 caseworkers to end the asylum backlog.

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Rishi Sunak says he told China actions to undermine British democracy are ‘completely unacceptable’

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Prime minister says he told Li Qiang, the Chinese prime minister, at G20 that Chinese interference with the work of parliament will ‘never be tolerated’

Simon Clarke, who was the levelling up secretary during the Liz Truss premiership, has defended the government’s decision not to explicitly label China as a threat. In posts on X, or Twitter as many of us still call it, he said:

There are legitimate reasons why it is difficult for ministers to say China is a threat – that’s the nature of international relations. What matters more than words is that our policy choices change to reflect the undoubted danger of China’s actions.

Here I think the Government’s record stands up pretty well. You have the soft power of our new Pacific trade bloc membership in the CPTPP (which notably does not include China) and you have the hard power of the new AUKUS alliance - itself a response to Chinese aggression.

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Highest daily number of Channel small-boat crossings for 2023 recorded

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More than 800 people made the journey on Saturday, bringing the total for the year so far to almost 21,000

More than 800 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday, the highest number on a single day so far this year.

The latest provisional government data put the figure at 872 people in 15 vessels, suggesting an average of about 58 people in each one.

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