[ad_1]
Robert Jenrick resigns as immigration minister over Rwanda bill in huge blow to Rishi Sunak
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox
Get our free View from Westminster email
Embattled Rishi Sunak is under fresh pressure after his immigration minister quit in protest at the prime minister’s plan to fix the Rwanda deal.
Robert Jenrick, a close ally of Mr Sunak, said a draft law published by Downing Street on Wednesday evening was a “triumph of hope over experience”.
The bill, due before parliament later today, gives ministers the power to disregard some human rights law but does not go as far as some Tory rightwingers wanted.
Mr Sunak chose not to fully opt out of the European Convention on Human Rights and critics say this leaves the plan open to legal further legal challenges.
Mr Jenrick, in a scathing resignation letter, told Mr Sunak he did not believe the new bill “provides us with the best possible chances of success” in getting the Rwanda flights to take off.
Meanwhile senior moderate Tory Tobias Ellwood told Times Radio that he will not support the Rwanda bill if there is “any prospect” of breaking the international laws the UK itself helped craft.
He said the row over Rwanda was “ripping our party in half”. He said: “Rwanda has become almost totemic, if you like, that hill that we have to die on.”
Key Points
Show latest update
Tory moderate suggests he may not back bill – says Rwanda ‘ripping’ party apart
Senior moderate Tobias Ellwood told Times Radio that he will not support the Rwanda bill if there is “any prospect” of breaking the international laws the UK itself helped craft, Adam Forrest reports.
Mr Ellwood said the row over Rwanda was “ripping our party in half”. He said: “Rwanda has become almost totemic, if you like, that hill that we have to die on.”
The senior Tory added: “If this infighting continues, it will not just cost us the next general election, it will see our party splinter into two between the centre right and the far right.”
Warning that some moderates may not back the bill, Mr Ellwood said: “We helped craft the ECHR. We were the ones that crafted most of the laws, international laws after the Second World War. We uphold international law. We don’t break it.”
Conservative MP and chair of the defence select committee Tobias Ellwood (Dominic Lipinski/ PA)
(PA Archive)
Matt Mathers7 December 2023 09:26
Heaton-Harris: Rwanda bill will pass Commons
Rishi Sunak’s draft law to fix the Rwanda plan will pass a vote in the Commons next week, a cabinet minister has insisted.
Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary and a former Tory whip, said the government has enough support to get the bill through the lower chamber.
It comes as the prime minister attempts to shore up his position and secure support for the plan after Robert Jenrick quit amid fears of a wider rebellion and Tory rightwingers.
The bill is due before parliament today and will be voted on next week and Tory moderates have warned they will not vote for it if there is any chance that it breaks international law.
More comments from Mr Heaton-Harris below:
Matt Mathers7 December 2023 09:18
Robert Jenrick’s resignation is ‘not that big a story’, Tory minister claims
A Tory minister has sought to downplay Robert Jenrick’s resignation, claiming it is “not as big a story as is being made”, Archie Mitchell reports.
Chris Heaton-Harris told LBC: “I don’t like anybody resigning from my party, but when I was Boris Johnson’s chief whip… Pretty much everyone did.
“Maybe I have a scale of proportion that others don’t have.” He added: “I don’t think it is as big a story as is being made”.
Listen to more of his interview here:
Matt Mathers7 December 2023 09:00
Braverman denies ‘spreading poison’ to oust Sunak as she’s challenged over attack on Rwanda plan
As we’ve been reporting, Suella Braverman has been speaking to Radio 4 this morning about the Rwanda draft law.
Full story and audio of the exchange below:
Suella Braverman denies ‘spreading poison’ to oust Rishi Sunak
Matt Mathers7 December 2023 08:57
Downing Street insists bill will prevent future legal challenges
Emergency legislation to deem Rwanda a safe destination has been published, as the Government bids to revive the flagship asylum policy following last month’s Supreme Court defeat.
The Bill is set to be rushed through the Commons and comes after Home Secretary James Cleverly signed a new treaty in Kigali amid efforts to remedy the concerns of the UK’s highest court.
Matt Mathers7 December 2023 08:50
ICYMI: Robert Jenrick’s resignation letter in full
In a scathing letter last night, Mr Jenrick described the government’s new Rwanda bill as a “triumph of hope over experience” as he quit as immigration minister.
He said he was refusing to be “yet another politician who makes promises on immigration to the British public but does not keep them.”
Read the resignation letter in full below:
Matt Mathers7 December 2023 08:48
Recap: What was in the bill?
Rishi Sunak made a desperate bid to head off a growing revolt among right-wing Conservatives over his failed Rwanda flights plan with new emergency legislation that defies human rights law.
Home secretary James Cleverly unveiled a bill in the Commons to “disapply” the UK Human Rights Act in a bid to stop British judges blocking the deportation of asylum seekers.
In fresh turmoil, the Rwandan government immediately responded to the move by warning that it could pull out of the deal if the UK fails to comply with international law.
Matt Mathers7 December 2023 08:44
Braverman: ‘Sorry truth’ is that new legislation ‘won’t work’
Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, has been speaking to broadcasters this morning after telling Rishi Sunak he faces “electoral oblivion” as she claimed his Rwanda plan was doomed to fail.
In an interview with the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Ms Braverman said the “sorry truth” is that new legislation to revive the strategy to stop small boats “won’t work”.
“There are elements that should be welcomed in this new bill that the prime minister has presented,” she said.
“But taken as a whole and looking at the reality of the challenges that are involved in detaining people, removing people and getting them to Rwanda – this is a very litigious field and there are lots of legal frameworks that apply – the reality is and the sorry truth is that it won’t work and it will not stop the boats.”
Suella Braverman was sacked as home secretary last month (Justin Tallis/PA)
(PA Wire)
Matt Mathers7 December 2023 08:28
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live politics coverage as Rishi Sunak comes under fresh pressure over his Rwanda plan.
Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, quit last night in protest at a bill produced by No 10 which the prime minister said would get flights taking off the African country.
But Jenrick described the proposals as a “triumph of hope over experience”. Stay tuned for all the latest updates on this story and otherwise from Westminster and elsewhere.
Matt Mathers7 December 2023 08:22
[ad_2]
Source link
