Politics latest news: Rwanda plan will ‘put an end’ to hotel costs, No 10 says

Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan will “put an end” to the costs of keeping Channel migrants in taxpayer-funded hotels, Downing Street has insisted.

The Telegraph revealed last night that Britain had given Rwanda an extra £100 million this year – on top of the £140 million already paid – before any asylum seekers have been deported to the African state.

Ministers also expect to pay Rwanda a further £50 million next year. The Home Office has confirmed the costs of hotel accommodation have now reached around £8 million a day.

Asked about whether Mr Sunak’s plan represented value for money, a No 10 spokesman said: “We think that in the long term this approach will reduce the cost that we’re facing in the UK of processing and housing and asylum seekers.

“So we do think that it’s the right approach. But we’re also mindful that we also have a moral responsibility to act when people’s lives are being put at risk in the long run.

“We think that in order to stop the boats, it’s important that we also have a strong deterrent… We will put an end to the unacceptable bills that we face in the UK, the £8m a day on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers.”

03:58 PM GMTThat’s all for this week…

Thank you for joining me throughout a dramatic week in Westminster.

Jack Maidment, our Politics Live Blog Editor, will be back on Monday to guide you through all the latest.

03:49 PM GMTAcademic who suggested ‘blowing up’ Jewish Labour conference venue stripped of honorary titles

A retired sociology professor has been stripped of her honorary titles by two universities after suggesting on social media that someone should “blow up the venue” of a Jewish Labour conference.

Prof Harriet Bradley made the remark on X, formerly known as Twitter, under a post that said Wes Streeting and Bridget Phillipson, shadow cabinet members, were due to speak at the event.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary confirmed that the post was recorded as an “incident of malicious communications” and was being investigated.

Prof Bradley, 78, apologised to anyone who had been “hurt, offended or frightened” and said: “It was a remark made as a joke, but I can see now it was a terrible mistake in awful taste.”

She said she was of Jewish heritage and had “great respect for the Jewish people and their terrible historical sufferings”.

Fiona Parker has more here

03:25 PM GMTAustralian PM called Thatcher a ‘f—— b—-’ in angry phone call

A former Australian prime minister called Margaret Thatcher a “f—— b—-” during an angry phone call about the British and Irish Lions tour in 1986, a new memoir claims.

Bob Hawke, the Labor prime minister from 1983 to 1991, contacted his British counterpart to persuade her to call off the rugby tour in South Africa in protest against apartheid.

John Brown, the former Australian sports minister, has said in his new memoir that the conversation proceeded on diplomatic lines for about 10 minutes when “suddenly the mood changed”.

“Thatcher had popularised the expression ‘the lady is not for turning’ and she was obviously determined to maintain her stance supporting South Africa,” he recalled.

Roger Maynard has more here

03:22 PM GMTEducation Secretary says: Bristol axing God Save The King from graduation is ‘ridiculous’03:00 PM GMTSunak’s plan to stop the boats is ‘beginning to work’

Rishi Sunak’s plan to stop the boats is “beginning to work”, a Cabinet minister has insisted in the wake of the Government unveiling its new Rwanda Bill.

Johnny Mercer, the veterans’ minister, admitted measures already taken to combat illegal Channel crossings had not been “everything we wanted”.

He told Question Time: “You say it’s not working, right, but in other countries we’ve seen a massive increase in the summer, in Italy and places like that, up to 80 per cent. In this country, small boats have gone down 30 per cent.

“Is it everything? No. Is it everything we wanted? No. But it’s a start and the things we’re doing are beginning to work.”

Read the full story here

02:55 PM GMTMore negative polling news for Tories

Like the most recent YouGov figures, the latest polling from Techne, which has also been published today, has Labour 23 points ahead of the Conservatives.

This suggests a week heavy on announcements about both legal and illegal migration have done little to help Rishi Sunak’s party, particularly in the wake of the return of Tory infighting and the resignation of Robert Jenrick.

Join the conversation about Rishi Sunak’s approach to the Rwanda plan – and the latest voter intention figures – in the comments section of this live blog.

02:36 PM GMTNew: No Rwanda poll bounce for Conservatives – YouGov

The newest YouGov survey, which was conducted across Wednesday and Thursday this week, has Labour continuing to lead the Conservatives by 23 points.

Sir Keir Starmer’s party is commanding just over double the support of the Tories.

02:00 PM GMTUK Government’s veto of Nicola Sturgeon’s gender reforms ruled lawful

Scotland’s highest court has ruled the UK Government acted lawfully by vetoing Nicola Sturgeon’s self-ID gender laws, reports Simon Johnson, The Telegraph’s Scottish Political Editor.

The Court of Session said Alister Jack, the Scottish Secretary, was within his rights to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, despite it being approved by MSPs.

The Bill would allow Scots to change their legal gender by simply signing a statutory declaration, dropping the requirement for a formal medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

It would also drastically lower the time period in which someone must live in their “acquired gender” from two years to as little as six months and allow 16 and 17-year-olds to obtain gender recognition certificates for the first time.

01:50 PM GMTTop Home Office mandarin accused of ‘extreme lack of respect’ by committee chairmen

The chairmen of the public accounts committee and the home affairs committee have hauled the permanent secretary of the Home Office in front of them next week.

In a letter to Sir Matthew Rycroft, Dame Meg Hillier and Dame Diana Johnson accused him of an “extreme lack of respect” after Sir Matthew declined to answer questions about the costs of the Rwanda deportation plan.

“We were surprised and disappointed that after refusing to answer questions about spending on the Rwanda scheme in response to direct questions on November 29 and December 4 from both our respective committees, you published a letter at 9.45pm which had been sent to us at 9.16pm on December 7.

“Not only did you give us no notice that such an important letter, containing some of the answers to the information we had requested, was coming, but you published the letter before our committees had time to consider it. This shows an extreme lack of respect for our committees. Moreover, the information provided does not answer our questions in full.”

They added: “In your letter of 7th December, you have now informed us that an additional £100m was paid to the Rwandan Government in April 2023.

“With a vote in Parliament due on 12th December on legislation which was only unveiled on 7thDecember we expect full and frank answers on this matter at the public hearing. Parliament needs fullinformation.”

01:41 PM GMTNo Covid fines issued over event in Parliament during Covid

No Covid fines have been issued over an event in Parliament on December 8, 2020 that was reportedly attended by Sir Bernard Jenkin, the Metropolitan Police has said.

“Officers assessed the available information and concluded it did not meet the threshold for the referral of any fixed penalty notices,” the force said.

01:27 PM GMTRishi Sunak can no longer claim to represent stability, says George Osborne

Rishi Sunak can no longer claim he has “stabilised things”, George Osborne has warned amid growing disquiet over his Rwanda plan.

Speaking on the latest episode of his Political Currency podcast, Mr Osborne, a former Tory chancellor, said: “Well, the Tory civil wars have completely reopened. Rishi Sunak’s big claim was, ‘I’ve come after the chaos of Boris Johnson and the chaos of Liz Truss….I’ve stabilised things.’

“He can’t now claim anymore to have stabilised things. His government is fragmenting around this immigration issue. And Rob Jenrick is a very particular loss for him because Jenrick was – alongside Oliver Dowden, and Rishi Sunak – one of the three musketeers.”

The Prime Minister is under fire from both ‘One Nation’ Tories and the Right of the party, with MPs concerned about the effectiveness and potential consequences of his emergency legislation.

01:00 PM GMTLord Frost: A Labour win will be a disaster. Too many Tories don’t care

It’s another crunch week for the Conservative Party, writes Lord Frost. The mood is bleak, the Sunak administration’s failure to show love to many of its MPs is coming back to haunt it, and, as Suella Braverman said on Wednesday, the party is facing electoral oblivion.

In truth, this has been the case for some time. As I keep saying, nearly two-thirds of our 2019 voters say they won’t be voting for us. That, not enthusiasm for Sir Keir Starmer, is why Labour is ahead.

For those voters, immigration is the top issue. They have heard much from us on this subject but seen no delivery. That’s why it matters that, in my personal view – I await the definitive verdict of the European Research Group’s Star Chamber – this week’s Rwanda Bill falls short.

This isn’t perfectionism: it’s that it won’t do the job it’s supposed to do. It doesn’t even close off all recourse to UK courts, and it certainly doesn’t prevent claimants going to the European Court in Strasbourg, which will not be bound by the UK-Rwanda Treaty or any UK legislation.

The usual NGO and legal army will exploit these loopholes with a wave of court cases, and we will be timed out before the election.

Lord Frost: The Tories cannot resign themselves to defeat

12:54 PM GMTThatcher did ‘terrible things’, insists Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer has claimed Margaret Thatcher did “terrible things” after a row over his praise for the former Tory prime minister in The Telegraph.

Sir Keir Starmer had heaped praise on the Iron Lady for effecting “meaningful change” in Britain as he launched an explicit appeal to Conservative voters to switch to Labour.

In comments first reported by the Daily Record, Sir Keir was asked if he was a fan of Thatcher at a gala dinner and replied: “No, absolutely not. She did terrible things, particularly here in Scotland which everybody in this room, myself included, profoundly disagrees with.

“The point I was trying to make in a piece that we penned last week is that there are some political leaders who have a mission, a plan, that they implement.

“And Attlee, of course, was one of them – the ‘new Jerusalem’. Thatcher, whether you liked her or you didn’t like her, you couldn’t say she didn’t have a plan or a mission.”

12:33 PM GMTAbu Dhabi-backed Telegraph bidder rejects plan to ease press freedom fears

The prospective owners of The Telegraph have rejected a plan to reduce the share of Abu Dhabi cash behind the takeover and ease concerns over press freedom.

Jeff Zucker, the former CNN chief leading RedBird IMI, has ruled out restructuring or bringing in new investors to appease regulators, insiders said.

Some 75pc of the $1bn (£790m) fund is provided by International Media Investments (IMI), an Abu Dhabi vehicle controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the Manchester City owner and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates. The rest is derived from RedBird, a US private equity firm with institutional and family office backing.

It is understood The Telegraph’s independent directors proposed that reducing IMI’s interest to a minority or even 25pc of The Telegraph’s £600m price would help them win a crucial recommendation from Ofcom to the Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer.

Christopher Williams has the story here

12:13 PM GMTNo10: Rwanda plan will ‘put an end’ to migrant hotels

Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan will “put an end” to the costs of keeping Channel migrants in taxpayer-funded hotels, Downing Street has insisted.

The Telegraph revealed last night that Britain had given Rwanda an extra £100 million this year – on top of the £140 million already paid – before any asylum seekers have been deported to the African state.

Ministers also expect to pay Rwanda a further £50 million next year. The Home Office has confirmed the costs of hotel accommodation have now reached around £8 million a day.

Asked about whether Mr Sunak’s plan represented value for money, a No 10 spokesman said: “We think that in the long term this approach will reduce the cost that we’re facing in the UK of processing and housing and asylum seekers.

“So we do think that it’s the right approach. But we’re also mindful that we also have a moral responsibility to act when people’s lives are being put at risk in the long run.

“We think that in order to stop the boats, it’s important that we also have a strong deterrent… We will put an end to the unacceptable bills that we face in the UK, the £8m a day on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers.”

11:48 AM GMTTory chairman: ‘Insanity’ to call another leadership election

At an event with political journalists yesterday, Mr Holden, who was elevated to the Tory chairmanship in the recent Cabinet reshuffle, was pressed on speculation that a defeat would put Mr Sunak’s leadership in jeopardy.

Asked by The Telegraph about the possibility of another leadership contest before the next election, Mr Holden said: “I think it’d be insanity to do that.”

However Rachel Maclean, a deputy chair of the party, said the Rwanda vote would reflect confidence in the government.

She told GB News: “Of course it’s about confidence in the Government and what it delivers.”

11:30 AM GMT‘The UK fared well with Covid – so why all the hand-wringing?’

An emotional Boris Johnson was questioned at the Covid Inquiry on his leadership during the pandemic.

Mr Johnson faced a hard line of questioning that saw him come close to tears as he recalled how after the end of the first lockdown, the virus bounced back.

Also hotly discussed by readers this week was James Cleverly’s pledge to reduce net migration by 300,000, and Prince Harry’s police protection legal battle.

Read on to explore how readers contributed to the conversation via the comments section and Front Page newsletter.

11:24 AM GMTLords question accepted on Rwanda this afternoon

The Speaker of the Lords has accepted a private notice question on the costs of the Rwanda scheme this afternoon:

To ask His Majesty’s Government what additional costs they expect to be incurred as a result of this week’s signing of a treaty to facilitate the removal of migrants to Rwanda.

11:14 AM GMTDominic Cummings: Sunak’s Rwanda plan ‘delusion after delusion’

Dominic Cummings has accused Rishi Sunak of “delusion after delusion” over his Rwanda plan.

“He cannot accept he was wrong when he was told explicitly and repeatedly ‘your policy cannot & won’t work & it’s a political disaster’,” Mr Cummings wrote.

“He’s now pretending he’s ‘blocking’ the courts when he very obviously is not and his policy and Bill very obviously leaves the ECHR/Human Rights Act framework in control.

“He will not ‘stop the boats’… There will be a useless attempt in 2024 to claim he’s been ‘sabotaged’ by [the House of] Lords and the courts and ‘this is what the election is about’. They’ll pathetically try to use Take Back Control, but it won’t work.”

Mr Cummings claimed the Conservatives are “doomed if they keep him and doomed if they spasm and fire him”.

11:02 AM GMT’It was a topical encapsulation of the Labour Party’s position’

The Conservative Party has remained defiant amid outrage from its One Nation wing over a tweet yesterday.

The ad, posted to the official Conservative Party account on X, formerly Twitter, read: “Labour when you ask for their plans to tackle illegal immigration”.

It was accompanied by a picture of Maryam Moshiri, a BBC news anchor, giving the middle finger at the start of a programme. Ms Moshiri apologised yesterday.

Despite criticism of the tweet from Tobias Ellwood and Alicia Kearns, a Tory source tells Christopher Hope, the political editor of GB News and The Telegraph’s Peterborough diarist: “It’s not coming down. It was a topical encapsulation of the Labour Party’s position.”

10:48 AM GMT’Kemi Badenoch is becoming Keir Starmer’s biggest headache’

Kemi Badenoch was back in action this week, informing the Commons of the latest update to the list of countries whose gender recognition certificate (GRC) will be recognised in the UK, writes Tom Harris.

It wasn’t long before questions from backbenchers across the House took the Minister for Women and Equalities off topic and she had to field a wide range of questions.

I became aware of Badenoch’s performance only later in the evening when I met a friend while taking my dog for its walk. He (my friend, not the dog) was full of praise for Badenoch, which I considered remarkable, given my friend’s working class background and Labour voting habits.

But then, why should I find such praise extraordinary? There is a long tradition, going back at least to Margaret Thatcher, of Conservative politicians touching a nerve among working class electors.

Tom Harris: It is unsurprising Badenoch is attracting traditional Labour support

10:22 AM GMTThe Tory factions that could make or break Sunak’s premiership

Rishi Sunak is facing a make-or-break time for his premiership as Tory MPs pore over the details of his new plan to stop illegal migration.

The Prime Minister has unveiled a fresh deal with Rwanda and new legislation, which he says will ensure that migrants who arrive on small boats are deported from Britain.

Hours after the announcement, he was rocked by the resignation of Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, who said the measures did not go far enough.

Dame Andrea Jenykns, the Tory MP for Morley and Outwood, said his decision to quit “may be the death knell for Sunak’s leadership”.

Nick Gutteridge, our Whitehall Correspondent, has your must-read guide to the Tory tribes

10:07 AM GMTWatch: Sunak gets stuck outside No 10 meeting Dutch PM09:53 AM GMTBlocking Ukraine aid a ‘Christmas present’ for Putin, Lord Cameron tells US

David Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, last night urged US lawmakers to approve fresh aid for Ukraine to help fund Kyiv’s battle against Russian forces.

Earlier this week, the US Senate blocked a White House request for $106 billion in emergency aid primarily for Ukraine and Israel, in a move Lord Cameron described as a “Christmas present” to Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

It was a setback for President Joe Biden, who had urged lawmakers to approve the funds, warning that Putin would not stop with victory in Ukraine and could even attack a NATO nation.

“We should pass this money to the Ukrainians,” Lord Cameron told the Aspen Security Forum in the US capital. “We should back them and make sure that it’s Putin that loses because if that money doesn’t get voted through, there are only two people that will be smiling.”

One of them is Putin, and “the other one is Xi Jinping in Beijing,” Lord Cameron said. “And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to give either of those people a Christmas present.”

Michael Murphy has the full story here

09:28 AM GMTKeir Starmer confronted by pro-Palestine protesters in Glasgow

Two people have been arrested after Sir Keir Starmer was confronted by pro-Palestinian activists in Glasgow who accused him of “facilitating genocide” in Gaza.

Footage showed the Labour Party leader arriving at Glasgow Central Station, where a group of activists were waiting with Palestinian flags.

Sir Keir voted against a ceasefire in Gaza and has lost many councillors from mainly Muslim communities owing to his support for Israel during a war which has killed more than 16,500 Palestinians.

The backlash began during an interview with LBC where he claimed “Israel has the right” to withhold power and water from Palestinian civilians.

09:08 AM GMTUK will only take ‘very, very small number’ of Rwandans

The UK will only take a “very, very small number” of Rwandans as part of its partnership with the central African nation, the legal migration minister has insisted.

Tom Pursglove told LBC’s Nick Ferrari: “We have said consistently from the very outset that we would be willing to take a very small number of people from Rwanda, for example, if people had complex needs that couldn’t be met in Rwanda, that we could perhaps better meet here in the United Kingdom.

Tom Pursglove is the new Home Office minister for legal migration and delivery – Parliament UK

“But people should expect a very, very small number of people to come through that part of the agreement.”

Asked whether there was a cap, Mr Purgslove replied: “There isn’t, but what I think is crucial in this is that, you know, what we’ve said, we’re acting in good faith.”

08:51 AM GMTSenior Tories demand removal of attack ad showing BBC presenter raising middle finger

Senior Tories have demanded that the party takes down an attack advert on social media that shows a BBC presenter raising her middle finger, writes Daniel Martin, our Deputy Political Editor.

The ad, posted to the official Conservative Party account on X, formerly Twitter, read: “Labour when you ask for their plans to tackle illegal immigration”.

It was accompanied by a picture of Maryam Moshiri, a BBC news anchor, giving the middle finger at the start of a programme.

Ms Moshiri apologised yesterday after the gesture was accidentally captured, saying it was a “silly joke” meant for friends but not for a live broadcast.

08:38 AM GMTOusting Sunak would be ‘insanity’, Tories told, as Rwanda Commons defeat looms

The Conservative Party chairman has warned rebels it would be “insanity” to oust Rishi Sunak before the next election as the Prime Minister faces a House of Commons defeat on the new Rwanda Bill.

Richard Holden said split parties do not win elections and urged colleagues not to be “introspective” amid divisions over immigration.

Rishi Sunak has made the Rwanda deportation policy a central focus of his premiership – James Manning/PA Wire

The Prime Minister used a press conference on Thursday to sell his new “emergency” legislation, aimed at getting Rwanda deportation flights in the air, insisting that “only” his approach would work.

But Tory MPs from both the moderate and Right-wing factions of the parliamentary party are considering voting down the Bill.

Ben Riley-Smith, Charles Hymas and Amy Gibbons have more here

08:27 AM GMTGovernment open to considering changes to Rwanda plan, suggests minister

The Government is open to considering changes to Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda legislation, a minister has suggested.

Asked about growing discontent among both Tory centrists and the Right of the party, Tom Pursglove, the legal migration minister, told Sky: “I think the Prime Minister is right is that the plan and the legislation underpinning it is what we need in order to be able to deliver.

“Of course there will be parliamentary debates, there will be opportunities for people to bring amendments. The House will consider them in the normal way and as ministers we will engage constructively with parliamentarians around any concerns that they have and handle them in the way that we would any other piece of legislation.”

Pressed to confirm whether ministers would consider changes, he replied: “We will engage with colleagues around concerns that they have. But I am clear that this plan is the right plan and we are determined to see it through.”

08:21 AM GMTGood morning

Dominic Penna here, The Telegraph’s Political Correspondent, guiding you through the end of a dramatic week in Westminster.

The £290 million that the Government plans to spend on the Rwanda scheme is “the right investment”, one of Rishi Sunak’s new immigration ministers has insisted.

Tom Pursglove told Sky News: “When you consider that we are unacceptably spending £8m a day in the asylum system at the moment, it is a key part of our strategy to bring those costs down.

“So I think this is the right investment to make that will help us to achieve those objectives of saving lives at sea, stopping people drowning in the Channel, as well as getting those costs under control in a way that I think taxpayers across the country would all want to see.”

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