PM’s press conference follows criticism from Braverman and the resignation of Robert Jenrick
Rishi Sunak says he is holding this press conference to explain why the government is publishing its Rwanda bill.
He says he is the child of immigrants. He understands why people want to come to the UK.
Continue reading...Immigration minister accuses people crossing Channel in small boats of ‘breaking into the country’
People arriving in the UK via irregular means will be deported to Rwanda before the next general election, according to Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, as the home secretary, James Cleverly, arrived in the country to sign a treaty paving the way for the policy.
Jenrick, who has taken an increasingly rightwing stance and hinted at his frustration with Downing Street’s perceived inaction on migration, also ramped up the rhetoric, accusing people crossing the Channel in small boats of “breaking into the country”.
Continue reading...Immigration minister says there could be ‘merits’ to an annual cap on net migration
Last night Suella Braverman, the former home secretary and the most prominent voice on the Tory right for tighter immigration controls, gave a qualified welcome to the immigration crackdown. It was “a step in the right direction”, she said in a thread on X. But she said it was too late to have an impact on numbers before the general election, and she said further measures were needed.
Among other things, she called for an annual cap on immigration numbers.
As well as these proposals, we should go further: shortening the graduate route - not just reviewing it again; & we need an annual cap, set by Parliament, across all visa routes, so we don’t get into this terrible situation again & government can be properly held to account.
There are merits to ideas like that. But what matters now is action. The public wants to see us actually deliver reducing levels of net migration, as I’ve been very clear, that people are sick of talk on this topic.
Continue reading...Covid tier system introduced in October 2020 and imposed different restrictions on English regions in effort to contain spread of virus. This live blog is closed
At the Covid inquiry Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said that he was not getting information from the government in February about Covid. He said he was “disappointed” by that.
In late February and early March he was getting information from other cities around the world instead, he said. He said this happened even though his foreign affairs team consisted of just three people.
The government generally does give us information about a variety of things happening. I’m disappointed the government weren’t giving us information in February about what they knew then.
Continue reading...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”.
Continue reading...Britain’s ex-head of counter-terrorism says government failed to act on a recommendation to change legislation
Gaps in UK law that would allow words such as “jihad” to be shouted at rallies were known to the government but not acted upon, Britain’s former head of counter-terrorism has revealed.
The comments from Neil Basu come as some ministers condemned police for their handling of weekend demonstrations in London, with the home secretary, Suella Braverman, due to meet the Metropolitan police commissioner on Monday.
Continue reading...Asylum seekers removed from Bibby Stockholm after legionella bacteria found in water system onboard
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have announced their candidate in the forthcoming Rutherglen and Hamilton West byelection.
Gloria Adebo, who works as a data analyst, will run for the party in the vote triggered by the successful recall petition for Margaret Ferrier.
The Rutherglen and Hamilton West byelection is a real chance for local people to deliver a judgment on the difficulties and disasters we have been landed in by incompetent, populist governments in London and Edinburgh.
It needn’t be like this. And it is the Liberal Democrats who, increasingly, are a growing and dynamic part of an alternative way forward - offering hope in place of despair, founded on a belief in individuals, in the rule of law, in equality of opportunity and the importance of human rights here and across the world.
Continue reading...Robert Jenrick had said government would do ‘whatever is necessary’ to stop small boat crossings
The UK would be an international outlier along with Russia and Belarus if it left the European convention on human rights, a leading law body has warned, after a senior minister signalled that the move could be an option to stop small boat crossings.
Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, said the government would do “whatever is necessary”, even if that meant pulling out of the ECHR, the 70-year-old pan-European treaty that protects human rights and political freedoms in the continent.
Continue reading...Armed officers at the scene but no reports of injuries, Metropolitan Police says
Rishi Sunak is being interviewed on ITV’s This Morning.
He says immigration levels are too high, but he rejects claims it is out of control. This is from the Daily Mirror’s Lizzy Buchan.
Continue reading...Theresa May had warned bill will cause more people to be consigned to modern slavery while Geoffrey Cox also raised concerns. This blog is now closed
Q: [From Matthew Barber, the police and crime commissioner for Thames Valley] What can the Home Office do to cut bureaucracy for the police?
Braverman says, if someone is having a mental health crisis, there should be a healthcare response, not a police response. She says police officers are having to spend too much time in hospital with people.
Continue reading...About 170 organisations warn ministers not to put people in military bases, barges and ferries around the country
Ministers have been warned of a “humanitarian catastrophe” if asylum seekers arriving in the UK are accommodated in camps on military bases and on barges.
Approximately 171 organisations – including the Refugee Council, Choose Love, faith groups, city of sanctuary representatives and law centres – have written to Rishi Sunak urging him to “listen to common sense” and scrap plans for asylum camps at former RAF bases at Scampton in Lincolnshire, Wethersfield in Essex and Catterick in North Yorkshire and the site of a former prison in Bexhill in East Sussex, along with proposals to use ferries and barges.
Continue reading...Immigration minister fined more than £1,600 for breaking limit on M1 after appearing on Any Questions? last year
The government minister Robert Jenrick has been banned from driving for six months and fined more than £1,600 after being caught driving almost 30mph over the speed limit last year.
The Conservative MP for Newark was recorded driving 68mph in a temporary 40mph zone on the M1 in Northamptonshire on 5 August 2022. Jenrick pleaded guilty to the offence in February and said in a letter to the court that he “sincerely apologised” for the incident.
Continue reading...This live blog has now closed, you can read more on this story here
Eagle how the pay settlement for health workers will be funded.
Hunt says, as with all pay settlements, departments fund them from the money they get in the spending review. But in exceptional circumstances they can speak to the Treasury about extra help.
But we make a commitment that there will not be a degredation of frontline services for the public.
Continue reading...Immigration minister Robert Jenrick says ‘not necessarily a bar’ to families being sent to African country
Families with children seeking asylum in the UK are being considered for forced removal to Rwanda, according to a Home Office minister.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told an evidence session at parliament’s women and equalities committee on Wednesday that, while there were no plans to remove unaccompanied child asylum seekers to the east African country, families with children are being considered for removal.
Continue reading...Immigration experts scathing about Home Office plans to tighten access to services for people without legal status
Home Office plans to reheat “thoroughly discredited” hostile environment policies show the government has not learned lessons from the Windrush scandal, immigration experts have said.
A taskforce to crack down on illegal immigration is being set up, the Home Office announced on Sunday. As well as blocking access to banking for those without immigration status, it intends to find new ways of checking individuals’ immigration status when they use schools or the NHS.
Continue reading...Council of Europe’s ‘rapid reaction visit’ followed reports of diphtheria outbreak and squalid conditions
Conditions for small boat arrivals at the Manston reception centre in Kent have sparked international concern and triggered a “rapid reaction” visit from European torture monitors in the last few days.
A seven-strong delegation from the Council of Europe’s Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Committee carried out a the visit to Manston from 25-28 November due to concerns over conditions there.
Continue reading...Robert Jenrick says accommodation being sought in ‘much broader range of local authorities’
Rural areas will be asked to accept more people seeking asylum, a minister has suggested, as the government faced criticism from Conservative MPs for placing migrants in their constituencies.
Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, said small towns and the countryside may be asked to house more people crossing the Channel in small boats “as long as numbers are so high”.
Continue reading...Home affairs committee members say site is still engulfed in crisis despite government assurances
Manston processing centre is still engulfed in a crisis despite government reassurances, a committee of MPs who visited the site has said.
Families of people seeking refuge in the UK are still sleeping on mats for weeks on end, the home affairs select committee (HASC) discovered.
Continue reading...Heathrow centre finally emptied on Sunday despite minister expecting everyone to be evacuated by Saturday evening
Dozens of immigration detainees were finally removed on Sunday from a Heathrow immigration centre where a disturbance broke out on Saturday after a power cut, despite a government minister saying he expected everyone to be evacuated by Saturday evening.
Robert Jenrick issued a statement undertaking to empty the centre of detainees by the end of Saturday.
Continue reading...New prime minister likely to prioritise unity in offering ministerial jobs, although leading Trussites can expect the chop
Rishi Sunak has pledged to build a cabinet of all the talents but, given the swiftness of the leadership competition, relatively little has been briefed about his potential cabinet.
His team say no roles have been promised to any backers and Sunak was in the enviable position as the frontrunner of not needing to promise roles to anyone.
Continue reading...