Rwanda could take THIRTY THREE THOUSAND migrants deported from UK

Over 33,000 migrants could be deported to Rwanda from the UK, according to new Home Office figures released today.

Since July 2023, ministers have gained powers to detain any illegal migrants and deport them to a third safe country such as Rwanda.

Under Rishi Sunak’s “Stop the Boats” legislation, applications can be declared “inadmissible” and asylum seekers will be sent to Rwanda.

However, flights are currently grounded after the Supreme Court ruled that the policy was unlawful.

The Prime Minister is hoping to secure the first flights to the third safe country in spring of this year.

He is currently facing opposition from across his party, which restricts the rights of migrants to challenge their deportation.

In December 2023, 37 Conservative MPs abstained from voting on the bill, including former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick.

Yet, even if Sunak is able to get flights off the ground, the numbers of those deported would be small to begin with.

James Eadie, the Government’s lawyer, told judges at the Supreme Court it would be “limited” at the start.

Speaking of the five-year Rwanda agreement, Sir James said: “Both participants recognise the need for capacity building: the UK has provided funds for the same, the Rwandan authorities have taken measures in terms of recruitment and training, and the numbers are, initially, low.”

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The Refugee Council has calculated that Rwanda has the capacity to house no more than 10,000 a year.

Once the scheme gets off the ground, this would leave 25,000 asylum seekers a year left in limbo.

The Home Office figures were published following the department's claim that it had met its target of clearing a backlog of migrant claims.

In December 2022, Sunak pledged he would “abolish” the legacy backlog of migrant claims before the end of 2023.

Legacy cases refer only to people in the asylum system on 28 June 2022, the day when new asylum rules came into force.

The Government said that Sunak’s “commitment of clearing the legacy asylum backlog has been delivered”, having processed more than 112,000 claims overall this year.

However, 4,537 cases remain unprocessed, according to the Government’s official data.

Sunak’s spokesperson said that the all the cases have been reviewed, and the remaining ones simply “require additional work”.

The spokesperson said: “We committed to clearing the backlog, that is what the government has done. We are being very transparent about what that entails.

“We have processed all of those cases and indeed gone further than the original commitment. We're up to 112,000 decisions made overall.

“As a result of that process, there are a small minority of cases which are complex and which, because of our rigorous standards, require further work.

“But nonetheless, it is a significant piece of work by Home Office officials to process such huge numbers in a short period of time while retaining our rigorous safety standard.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly said that it was “impossible” to say how long it will take to get through outstanding asylum cases.

However, he added that the Government was improving the system by hiring “more people”, refining “processes” and implementing “real accountability”.

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Junior doctors start their longest strike in NHS history on Wednesday – but what do they want?

Junior doctors in England are due to walk out for six days, starting on Wednesday morning.

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Sir John Curtice issues devastating warning to Sunak that could see Tories obliterated

Rishi Sunak has been warned by Sir John Curtice he is losing votes to Reform just as much as he is losing votes to Labour.

The British political scientist has said that for every 2019 Tory voter now choosing Labour, “there is another one voter who now says they will vote for Reform."

It comes as Sir John said that latest opinion polls indicated that Reform is "already a problem" for Rishi Sunak.

Meanwhile, former Reform leader Nigel Farage said he is "enjoying life" but says he "got to decide … do I want to do [a return to active politics] again?"

Sir John told the BBC's World at One programme: "If the opinion polls are correct Reform are now already proving to be something of a problem for the Conservatives.

"If you actually look at the polls that were done in December and examine how people who voted for the Conservatives in 2019 what they now say they will do, for every one voter who now says they will vote for Labour, there is another one voter that now says they will vote Reform.

"In other words, the Conservatives are losing votes as heavily to Reform as they are to Labour.

"That is one of the problems that now faces Rishi Sunak as he tries to works out how to recover from the slew of electoral despond."

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Asked about Farage's potential impact on polling for Reform, Sir John said: "Certainly there's one opinion poll not so long ago that suggested that Reform may go up to about 14 per cent in the polls, they're currently on an average of about nine per cent.

"That still could mean that Reform would end up as Ukip did in 2015 without any MPs.

"But that would still add significantly to the Conservative's problems because Reform are attracting the voters and they are the foundation of the Conservative's success in 2019.

"Nigel Farage is a charismatic figure. Reform is not that well known although it is getting better known but with Nigel Farage at its head it would be much more of a challenge to the Conservatives than the not inconsiderable challenge that Reform are already posing.

Earlier in the show, Nigel Farage was asked about his chances of returning to frontline politics.

Farage said: "I think the level of distrust amongst traditional Conservative voters is at a level not seen in modern times.

"I am pretty busy with broadcasting and GB News and popping into the jungle and enjoying life in general.

"I haven't yet decided whether I'm going to play an active role in this or not."

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Nigel Farage issues severe warning to Rishi Sunak as major Tory problem hits level 'not seen in modern times'

Nigel Farage has issued a severe warning to Rishi Sunak as the former Brexit Party leader claimed distrust among traditional Tory voters has reached a level "not seen in modern times".

Farage, 59, argued the Prime Minister's failure to deal with "eye-watering" levels of migration was ensuring the Conservative Party continues to lose the confidence of its base.

The former Brexit Party leader, who posed electoral challenges to both David Cameron and Theresa May, called out Home Secretary James Cleverly for hailing this Christmas as the first in five years without any Channel migrant crossings.

Farage labelled Cleverly a "moron" and claimed the Braintree MP was “either pig ignorant or just an outright charlatan”.

There has been growing speculation about whether Farage could rejoin the Tory Party under a different leader.

However, Farage is still "bruised" by the 2015 election when Ukip won just one seat with 12.6 per cent of the vote.

He told the BBC: "The level of distrust amongst traditional Conservative voters is at a level we’ve not seen in modern times."

Farage added: "I’m still bruised by the 2015 general election, which I fought very hard for four million votes and one seat. I’m going to think very hard before I take on that system again."

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Despite disappointment in 2015, Farage broke electoral history with his victories in the EU Parliament Elections of 2014 and 2019.

Ukip also managed to win two by-elections in Clacton and Rochester & Strood.

Reform UK, which emerged from the embers of the Brexit Party, is gaining significant ground due to dissatisfaction with the Tory Party.

An opinion poll conducted by People Polling for GB News put Reform on 10 per cent, with Labour opening up a 22-point lead over the Tories.

The three most important issues in voters' minds ahead of the general election are the economy, immigraton and health.

However, immigration is an even more salient issue with Conservative voters and Brexit backers.

Sunak is struggling to deal with illegal immigration as a number of legal challenges threaten to torpedo his pledge to stop the boats.

But net migration also soared to a record 745,000 in 2022.

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Sunak's claim to have cleared asylum backlog branded 'misleading'

The government is claiming victory in clearing the backlog of asylum claims - but that has been described as "misleading" as thousands are still waiting for a final decision.

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The election year dawns - and small boats are a key battle line

Rishi Sunak himself declared that 2024 will be an election year - at the least discreet location possible: a Christmas party for political journalists.

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Michelle Mone's husband says family 'treated as punchbag' in row over PPE

Baroness Michelle Mone’s husband has hit out at the government and said his family has been “treated as a punchbag” in a row over personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement during the pandemic.

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Three key issues that could be fatal for Starmer in 2024 - analysis by Olivia Utley

Conventional wisdom is that the 2024 General Election is Labour’s for the taking. But with months still to go before the country goes to polls, Keir Starmer’s road to victory may not be quite as smooth as it first appears.

In no particular order, here are the three biggest hurdles I see in store for the Labour leader in 2024:

1. Party unity

When Keir Starmer took office back in April 2020 he inherited a hideously divided party. In 2015 entryists to Labour had voted in Jeremy Corbyn as leader, who in turn had filled both his shadow cabinet and the machinery of the Labour Party headquarters with far-left politicians and activists. In response, a sizable handful of Labour MPs had quit the politics altogether in horror at the antisemitism exhibited by their colleagues.

Keir Starmer can rightly be proud of the work he has done in the years since, painstakingly putting his party back together. Jeremy Corbyn was swiftly expelled, as was his comrade Diane Abbott. The front bench was purged of the left and filled with moderates in Starmer’s own image.

But the divisions, though plastered over, are very much still there. Labour activists, who are, on the whole, more left-wing than the parliamentary party are not too enamoured with Starmer – and there are plenty of Corbynite MPs who are nodding along with their leader for now, but will be only too happy to stick the knife in if Starmer puts as much as a foot wrong during the General Election campaign.

Compounding the problem, it is Westminster’s worst kept secret that Starmer and his deputy, the fiery Angela Rayner, have a less-than-perfect relationship – and many MPs believe that she is temperamentally better suited to the role of leader than Starmer, who is considered rather beige. She too is keeping her counsel for now, but can the Labour leader count on her loyal and unflinching support through what is set to be a long and tetchy campaign?

2. Scotland

Labour winning a convincing victory is predicated on the SNP imploding in Scotland. In 2010, Labour held 41 of Scotland’s 59 seats, but in the intervening elections, it lost all but one to the SNP. With the Nationalists down on their knees in recent months, one would expect Starmer to be sitting pretty north of the border. But that’s not necessarily the case.

In fact, now the dust has settled on the Sturgeon affair, the SNP’s poll ratings are rising while Labour’s tumble. Why? One theory is that Scottish voters, who tend to sway more to the left than their English counterparts, mistrust Starmer’s centrism – in particular his close association with Tony Blair. Another is that Scotland’s 200,000-strong North Sea Oil workforce is spooked by Starmer’s pledge that his Labour Government would end North Sea Oil exploration.

What’s more, time and again the SNP has shown that it has a phoenix-like ability to rise from the ashes. Its record in Scotland – on schools, on the drug crisis, on emissions – has been patchy, to put it mildly. But when it comes to an election, Scottish voters have repeatedly shown themselves willing to forgive and forget. The SNP might be mired in controversy now, but history suggests that writing off the party is a fool’s errand.

Whichever way you look at it, Starmer has an uphill battle ahead north of the border.

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3. Electoral mathematics

Riven with infighting, the Tories may not often behave like a Party with a huge majority. But we would be wrong to forget it. In order to win the next General Election outright, Labour doesn’t just have to do well – it has to do extraordinarily well. In numbers: they must recover from their biggest defeat in over 80 years to make 124 gains, something they've only ever done three times before in history. Or, put another way, they would need a bigger swing than Tony Blair enjoyed during his 1997 landslide victory.

The catastrophic results for the Tories in by-elections this year prove that it’s a feasible goal, but it’s by no means a given. And it could turn out that Labour’s support – though miles wide – is only inches deep. In the Uxbridge by-election back in July the Tories managed to cling on to the seat by turning the vote into a referendum on Ulez. If a local issue which only affected 10% of drivers was enough to stop the red tide in London, is it really safe to assume that Starmer will be carried into Number 10 on a wave of unstoppable enthusiasm?

All that said, if I were a betting woman, my money would be on a Labour majority. But, as Westminster watchers know only too well, election season can be full of surprises…

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UK considering strikes on Houthis to stop Red Sea attacks, says Shapps

Britain is reportedly considering air strikes on Houthi rebels after the US Navy sank three boats that had been targeting a container ship in the Red Sea.

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End to VAT on period pants comes into force

Period pants will no longer be subject to VAT in shops after a campaign by retailers, women's groups and environmentalists.

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Starmer is the anti-charisma candidate, but his lack of profile hasn't harmed Labour's chances | Adam Boulton

When he is forced to pick his Labour heroes, Sir Keir Starmer reluctantly measures himself against Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson and Sir Tony Blair.

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Party leaders make political pitches to public in New Year messages

UK political leaders have delivered their New Year messages as they prepare for the battle ahead at the ballot box.

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'I'd rather the Tories lose!' Sunak wanted 'secret deal' with Cummings to defeat Labour

Rishi Sunak wanted to hatch a "secret deal" with Dominic Cummings to defeat Labour at the next general election, the ex-Vote Leave campaigner has claimed.

Cummings, 52, urged the Prime Minister to abandon his cautious economic approach, hold an emergency budget, settle the NHS strikes and double the threshold at which people pay the 40p rate of income tax to £100,000.

The former Brexit campaigner also advocated leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, The Sunday Times has claimed.

The ECHR has been identified as a significant legal barrier to Britain dealing with illegal Channel crossings and Cummings has publicly spoken about how he would look to run a referendum campaign on the matter.

Downing Street refused to reject Cummings' account but claimed no job offer was made.

A Number 10 source said: “It was a broad discussion about politics and campaigning, no job was offered.”

Sunak reportedly met Cummings in December last year in London and in July in North Yorkshire.

Cummings said: “He wanted a secret deal in which I delivered the election and he promised to take government seriously after the election.

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“But I’d rather the Tories lose than continue in office without prioritising what’s important and the voters.

“The post-2016 Tories are summed up by the fact that Sunak, like Johnson, would rather lose than take government seriously.

"Both thought their MPs agreed with them, and both were right.”

However, the supposed deal seemingly fell through over whether Sunak could commit to prioritising the "most critical things", including nuclear weapons infrastructure, pandemics, Ministry of Defence procurement, artificial intelligence (AI) and “broken core Government institutions”.

In a subsequent post on social media, Cummings added: "Don’t know why someone at No10 blabbed about this but… Brief statement on Times story about the PM asking me to smash Labour and win the election, what I asked for in return (e.g sorting out the horrorshow of our nuclear weapons infrastructure, pandemic defences), & why we couldn’t do a deal."

Cummings spectacularly fell out with Boris Johnson after losing a power struggle between the Vote Leave faction and allies of the former Prime Minister's wife Carrie Symonds in autumn 2020.

He claimed discussions were afoot to remove Johnson from Number 10 within days of the 2019 general election.

Johnson's relationship with Sunak, who served as his Chancellor during the pandemic, crumbled when the now-Prime Minister led the Cabinet cabal which ultimately ousted him from power.

Sunak has since been accused by Johnson and his allies of being a "stooge" installed by Cummings.

The Prime Minister, who previously denied meeting with Cummings, reportedly decided against the "secret" deal as MPs and the media will go "crazy".

Since the two meetings, Cummings has lamented Sunak and his allies on social media.

The hardened political campaigner, who was a key figure in the last Conservative election victory, took aim at a number of figures associated with the "old Tory establishment", including the Prime Minister's political secretary James Forsyth and Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron.

Sunak's apparent decision to snub Cummings' request on Whitehall reform comes as a new opinion poll conducted for GB News revealed Labour is on course to win the next election in a landslide, with Sir Keir Starmer's party holding a 22-point lead over the Tories.

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'Self-centred and uncaring' Sadiq Khan slammed for 'taking cash from the poorest' with 'unfair' Ulez

Sadiq Khan has been accused of "taking cash from the poorest" with his expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone.

Conservative Mayoral Candidate Susan Hall accused Khan of being "self-centred" and "uncaring", claiming he is "more concerned with taking cash from the poorest than with saving Ukrainian lives".

In an opinion piece for GB News, she said: "Sadiq Khan's refusal to send scrapped ULEZ vehicles to Ukraine is a glaring example of just how out of touch he is with London’s values. It's a decision that screams of a Mayor more concerned taking cash from the poorest than with saving Ukrainian lives. And once again, it shows just how self-centred and uncaring he can be.”

She added: "Here we have a situation where vehicles set to be dumped on a scrap heap could be donated to help in Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion.

"Sadiq Khan said no, and now that he has been caught out, he is hiding behind the flimsiest of legal excuses.

"Thousands of cars have now been unnecessarily destroyed because of his failure."

She added: “Now he is blaming government regulations over the certificate of destruction, a document you are required to provide TfL to prove your vehicle has been destroyed in exchange for the scrappage scheme money.

"Once again, it is a dodgy legal argument that simply doesn’t stack up. And to the extent that it is an issue, it could have been quickly solved months ago if Sadiq Khan had bothered to raise it with officials.

“The truth is Sadiq Khan was so obsessed with making as much money off his unfair Ulez expansion as possible, he did not bother to see the bigger picture.

"When he was caught, he resorted to his usual tactic of blaming the government for his own failures. He is lacking not just in empathy, but imagination.

“And it is more than just this missed opportunity. London is being let down by a Mayor who seems more interested in becoming a celebrity than in helping others.

"We see it every single day, from his weak leadership on crime to his failures on housebuilding.”

Responding to Hall's article, a spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: "As experts such as former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace have made clear, we need action from ministers for plans to progress.

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"Sadiq is calling on the Government to temporarily alter the national regulations for the Certificate of Destruction, which is required as proof that a vehicle has been permanently scrapped, to enable the export of suitable vehicles to the Ukraine via a registered charity or national scheme.

"Officials are now working with ministers to overcome these legal hurdles and enable Londoners to receive money for taking suitable polluting vehicles off London's streets while helping the people of Ukraine."

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Liz Truss's 'shameless' resignation gongs snuck out by Downing Street at exact same time New Year Honours confirmed

Downing Street has shamelessly published Liz Truss's resignation honours list at the same time as the New Years' honours, in what appears to be an attempt to divert attention away from the controversial awards.

The decision to allow the former Prime Minister the traditional privilege of handing out the honours attracted criticism, as she was in office for just 49 days.

There were calls for Rishi Sunak to block the move given the short-lived nature of her premiership.

The long-delayed list was published by the Government this evening at the same time as a number of separate New Year Honours.

Truss recommended Tory donor Sir Jon Moynihan, her deputy chief of staff in Number 10 Ruth Porter and former chief executive of the Vote Leave Brexit campaign Matthew Elliott for peerages.

Sir John donated £20,000 to Truss’s leadership campaign in 2021.

Novelist Shirley Ida Conran, who is also on the list, donated £5,000 to the former PM.

Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke was recommended for a knighthood for his political service as Minister of State for Defence Procurement.

Meanwhile fellow MP Jacqueline Doyle-Price has been recommended for a damehood following her service as Minister of State for Industry.

Speaking on publication of the honours list, Truss said: "I am delighted these champions for the conservative causes of freedom, limited government and a proud and sovereign Britain have been suitably honoured."

But Labour branded the list a "slap in the face to working people" while the Liberal Democrats have dubbed it a "shameless move".

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow cabinet office minister, said: “This list is proof positive of Rishi Sunak’s weakness and a slap in the face to working people who are paying the price of the Tories crashing the economy.

“Honours should be for those committed to public service, not rewards for Tory failure. Rather than apologise for crashing the economy and driving up mortgages rates, costing families thousands, Rishi Sunak has nodded through these tarnished gongs because he is too weak to lead a Tory Party completely out of touch with working people.”

While Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “This shameless move to reward Liz Truss’s car crash cronies is matched only by Sunak’s weakness in failing to block it.

“Truss handing out gongs after blowing a hole in the public finances and leaving families reeling from spiralling mortgage costs calls this whole honours system into disrepute.

“The honours system should celebrate hardworking people who have achieved great things; sullying this celebration shows just how out of touch this Conservative Government really is.”

The Government's New Years' Honours list saw England goalkeeper Mary Earps, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis and Game of Thrones actor Emilia Clarke are among the stars of sport, stage and screen recognised in the New Year Honours list, while the Archbishop of Canterbury leads those rewarded for their work on the King’s coronation.

Singer Dame Shirley Bassey, who has sold more than 135 million records, is made Companion of Honour for her services to music, becoming the 64th living member of the order which can only have 65 members at any one time.

Director and producer Sir Ridley Scott, whose works include Gladiator, Alien and Napoleon, is made a Knight Grand Cross, upgrading his previous knighthood, while author Jilly Cooper becomes a dame.

Other notable names in the list include England cricketer Stuart Broad, who is made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) following his retirement; singer Leona Lewis, who becomes an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE); and author Kate Mosse, who is also made a CBE.

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Liz Truss resignation honours revealed as Kwarteng and cabinet miss out

Kwasi Kwarteng, Therese Coffey and the rest of Liz Truss's cabinet have missed out on getting gongs or places in the House of Lords as part of her resignation honours list.

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Rishi Sunak's New Year nightmare as new data highlights scale of crisis for Tories

Labour is on course for a thumping victory at the General Election, a major new poll indicates today.

As speculation mounts that Rishi Sunak will call a May vote, the People Polling* for GB News poll has Keir Starmer’s party holding a 22 point lead over the Tories.

Labour is on 45 percent, the Tories are on 23 percent, and Reform is polling at 10 percent. If such a result was repeated at a General Election, it would be enough for a Labour majority.

The blow to Rishi Sunak comes as the poll also reveals that 54 percent - more than a half of the country - feel worse off now compared to a year ago.

And two thirds of the country say “it’s time for a change in Westminster”.

Commenting, politics expert Professor Matthew Goodwin from People Polling, told GB News: “This is further evidence, after a disastrous year in the polls for Rishi Sunak, that the Conservatives are failing to turn the tide.

"Worryingly for Rishi Sunak, it’s not just that the Labour share of the vote which remains strong but a significant share of his own voters are now defecting to the Reform party. Reform is now on 10 per cent of the national vote, drawing more than one in five disillusioned 2019 Tories.

“If Keir Starmer goes into the next general election asking voters the Ronald Reagan question –‘are you better off than you were four years ago?’—then much of the country, including more than four in ten of the people who voted for Boris Johnson in 2019, will say 'no'. This is yet another sign the Tories are heading for a heavy defeat.

“Asking people if it’s time for a change in Westminster has been an unusually powerful predictor of what will happen at the next election, and these numbers once again point to widespread hunger for a change of government at the looming election.

"Large majorities of voters think it’s time for a change in Westminster and if the current polling numbers don’t change then they are sure to get exactly what they want.”

The poll also laid bare what issues voters want the Government to focus on in 2024.

The most popular priorities among voters is tackling the cost-of-living crisis, followed by improving the NHS, and stopping the small boats.

Goodwin continued: “These findings underline the critical importance of the cost-of-living crisis to determining what happens at the next election.

"But that’s not quite where the story ends.

"For 2019 Conservative Party voters, their overriding priority is stopping the small boats followed by tackling the cost of living crisis while for Labour voters the overriding priority is tackling the cost of living crisis followed by improving the NHS.

"This is further evidence that if Rishi Sunak fails to stop the boats and if the looming Rwanda vote does not go his way, then his days in Number 10 are surely numbered.”

Meanwhile the poll also revealed which political titan voters must long to see back in power.

Margaret Thatcher was the most popular choice when voters were asked which former prime minister they would like to bring back and put in Number 10 Downing Street today. The Iron Lady was followed by Winston Churchill and then Tony Blair.

Goodwin added: “The British people are clearly in the mood for a conviction politician who is unafraid to shake up the consensus to get Britain working. But where is today’s Thatcher? Look at the leadership ratings of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer and you’d be hard pressed to find one.

"While Thatcher is even more popular among Conservative voters, Tony Blair holds a narrow lead over Gordon Brown among Labour voters, once again perhaps underlining that voters today are dreaming of the days when they had strong, conviction politicians who went on to fundamentally transform the country around them.”

PeoplePolling surveyed 1,987 Britons on December 28, 2023.

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'Crap parents' behind struggling children, MP claims

A Conservative MP has claimed that most children who struggle in his town are the "products of crap parents".

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