Summary

  • Rishi Sunak defends his Rwanda bill as "the right approach" as pressure mounts within the Tory party and a minister quits

  • The PM says the bill is the "toughest immigration law ever" and insists it will successfully prevent further legal challenges stopping flights taking off to the East African country

  • But he admits that the European Court of Human Rights will still be able to challenge asylum seeker deportations

  • Robert Jenrick earlier quit as immigration minister over the new law, saying it wasn't tough enough

  • Ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman echoed his criticism and said it would not effectively stop Channel crossings

  • But Sunak says going any further will risk sinking the policy altogether

  • The PM also confirmed that the Commons vote on the Rwanda bill next week will not be treated as a confidence vote in his government

  • Aside from the draft law, the government has also signed a new treaty with Rwanda to try to get the policy implemented

  • The Supreme Court blocked the plan last month, saying Rwanda was not safe and could return refugees to the countries they fled

  1. Sunak pressed on whether voters will lose trust in himpublished at 11:26 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    A reporter from the Sun asks Sunak if he doesn't get flights to Rwanda off he ground before the next general election, will voters lose trust?

    Sunak says his government has delivered - pointing to the five pledges he made and insists they are making progress on migration, inflation and debt.

    He adds he's "very confident in the record over the last year".

  2. Sunak denies Jenrick's claim that Rwanda policy won't workpublished at 11:24 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    A reporter from the Daily Mail asks Sunak if ex-Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick was right to say in his resignation letter that the policy won't work?

    Sunak says Jenrick is "simply not right, actually" and points to the former minister outlining what the PM describes as the government's "remarkable record" on small boats.

    He says it's important to repeat the government's "record on delivery" on migration, including the number of crossings being "down by a third" when they are rising elsewhere in Europe.

    Sunak goes on to hail efforts like striking returns deals with other countries and intercepting criminal gangs.

    "We're doing more to tackle this issue than anyone's ever done, that's the experience of the last year. That's my record on delivering on what I say," he says.

    Sunak adds that he is confident this is the right plan, noting he has gone over it for weeks with lawyers.

  3. Has the PM lost control of his party?published at 11:21 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    A question from Sky now. Has the PM lost control of his party and will this lead to a general election?

    He says we should look at the record and the facts, saying the government has got the numbers of people arriving by small boats down by a third.

    He adds: "We've arrested hundreds and hundreds if people".

    The PM says he wants to get the legislation "on the statute books in record time".

    Rishi Sunak speaks to the media during a press conference at Downing Street in LondonImage source, EPA
  4. Rwanda Bill not treated as a vote of confidence, says Sunakpublished at 11:20 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    Will next week's Commons vote be treated as a vote of confidence in your government, and will you throw Tory MPs who defy you out of the party?, Sunak is asked.

    There has been chatter that the prime minister could have gone down the risky route of making this vote one where if his MPs vote against it they would be kicked out of the party.

    The PM says no, the vote is about confidence in Parliament, that it gets the British people's frustration about this issue.

    The real question is for the Labour Party, he adds, saying "we have a plan". What is their plan? he says.

  5. Are you saying to Tory MPs back me or sack me?published at 11:19 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    The BBC's political editor Chris Mason asks Sunak if he is saying to his MPs "back me or sack me".

    The prime minister says he is saying to the entire country he "shares their frustration" over migration and his patience "has worn thin".

    He says he's pleased they've made progress in stopping small boats, but more must be done.

    The bill will mean "unequivocally that Rwanda is safe" and there should be no more legal blocks on flights.

    He says he is "absolutely committed to seeing this through" - adding that what is happening at the moment is "patently unfair".

  6. Albania deal shows these deterrents work, PM sayspublished at 11:18 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    Sunak says for context the Rwanda policy is part of a wider strategy to "stop the boats".

    He says the strategy is working.

    "For the first time small boat arrivals to the UK are down by a third. even as illegal crossings in the Mediterranean have soared by 80%," the PM says.

    Sunak then cites return agreements with several countries including Bulgaria, Turkey, Italy, Georgia and France

    Fifty hotels are being returned to their local communities, the PM says, as he adds the government is instead housing people on a barge and former military sites.

    Sunak says 22,000 illegal immigrants have been returned and he insists an agreement with Albania shows such deterrents work.

  7. ECHR can still mount challenges but Sunak insists he 'won't allow' flights to be blockedpublished at 11:16 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    Sunak admits the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg could still mount challenges and try to block flights to Rwanda.

    He says he will not allow this to happen but doesn't spell out exactly how.

    He says "it is your government, not criminal gangs, or indeed foreign courts" who should decide who comes to the UK and who stays here.

  8. Sunak: Government has to recognise people at risk of serious harm will get asylumpublished at 11:14 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks to the media during a press conference at Downing StreetImage source, EPA

    Sunak continues by saying that migrants can only come to the UK under the "narrow exception" that they can prove to the Home Office they "specifically have a real and imminent risk of serious and irreversible harm".

    He says the government has to recognise this as law, adding that the Rwandans have made clear that "if we go any further the entire scheme will collapse".

    He adds that the bar for contesting removals to Rwanda has, however, been set "so high it will be vanishingly rare for anyone to meet it".

  9. 'Narrow' possibility some asylum seekers will argue they are at risk of serious harm - Sunakpublished at 11:12 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    Sunak says clauses in the new bill will stop asylum seekers from using international law in a bid to avoid being sent to Rwanda - which he says is a safe country.

    He says every single reason ever used in court challenges - including "spurious human rights claims" - has now been blocked, except for the "extremely narrow" possibility that someone can prove they are at real and imminent risk of serious harm.

  10. Government wants to end legal merry-go-round - Sunakpublished at 11:06 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    The prime minister says illegal immigration not only undermines border controls - "it undermines our sense of character".

    He explains: "We play by the rules, we put in our fair share, we wait our turn."

    Those who don't do this "fatally undermine the very fairness on which trust is based".

    The new bill ends the merry-go-round of legal challenges that have blocked the policy, Sunak adds, saying that while the Supreme Court said Rwanda was not a safe country, the government is legislating to say it is.

  11. Sunak says his new bill is 'toughest immigration law ever'published at 11:04 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    r Rishi Sunak speaks to the media during a press conference at Downing Street in LondonImage source, EPA

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak opens by saying his new bill to get the Rwanda policy off the ground is the "toughest immigration law ever".

    But he goes on to say that as the child of immigrants he understands why people get on unsafe boats to come to the UK - which he says is a "great country".

    But Sunak says his parents came legally and were proud to become British, adding that there are other children of immigrants also around the cabinet table.

    He adds that the principle of fairness on immigration is crucial to the UK.

  12. Sunak steps up to speakpublished at 11:01 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    Rishi Sunak has taken to the stage inside Downing Street, and is speaking now.

    He starts by saying he wants to explain why he is taking the approach he is towards tackling illegal migration.

    Stay with us.

    A reminder, you can watch every moment by clicking Play at the top of this page.

  13. Nicky Campbell callers have their say on Rwandapublished at 10:55 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    Nicky Campbell has been asking people to share their views on the Rwanda plan and Robert Jenrick's resignation this morning on his Radio 5 Live show. Here's what some of the callers had to say:

    Sandy, from Thame in Oxfordshire, expresses disappointment with Jenrick's decision, adding that the Tories need to stop the "ridiculous squabbling" and get behind Sunak.

    She describes the resignation as "pathetic" and self-defeating because she "wouldn't trust him now", criticising Jenrick for saying the policy des not go far enough without providing his own solutions.

    Tricia in Worsley, Manchester, says while she accepts the UK requires a level of immigration, she argues the country does not need people moving here and "bringing half a dozen family members that don’t contribute anything".

    She says there is nothing wrong with the Rwanda deal and adds: "The costs are mounting and mounting, someone needs to get a grip and just do it".

    Richard, from Islington in north London, is critical of the Rwanda policy, calling it a "a total waste of money and the wrong way to stop the boats".

    He says funding would be much better spent on addressing the asylum backlog and the cost of putting people up in hotels at the taxpayer's expense, as well as "actually working with the French to stop the boats and the gangs".

  14. Fifteen minutes to the news conferencepublished at 10:47 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    If you're just joining us, welcome along.

    We're going to be bringing you a news conference with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak from Downing Street at 11:00.

    As Chris Mason said earlier on this page, Sunak will be doing a selling job for the Rwanda policy.

    You'll be able to follow live text coverage here and stream the press conference when it gets under way.

  15. Sunak moves to split Jenrick's old job in twopublished at 10:39 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023
    Breaking

    Downing Street has moved to announce who will replace Robert Jenrick who quit last night as immigration minister.

    But No 10 has decided to split the role. So Michael Tomlinson has been appointed Minister for Illegal Migration in the Home Office, with Tom Pursglove as Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery.

  16. WATCH: Sunak must change course on Rwanda plan, says Bravermanpublished at 10:25 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman told the BBC the government "can't keep failing the British people" on illegal immigration and urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to change course.

    She told Radio 4's Today programme that plan after plan had been put forward and "they have all failed".

    She said "the sorry truth" was that the government's new Rwanda Bill "won't work and will not stop the boats - it needed to "totally exclude international law".

  17. Government minister insists Rwanda is safepublished at 10:14 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    Chris Heaton-HarrisImage source, Getty Images

    While much of the attention this morning has been on Suella Braverman and her views on the government's Rwanda policy, it was up to minister Chris Heaton-Harris to defend it on broadcast outlets earlier.

    The Northern Ireland secretary insisted the government "is going to keep its promises to the British public".

    "We all know we need to stop the boats," he said.

    Heaton-Harris said the government's view is that Rwanda is a "safe country"

    Challenged on the Supreme Court's rejection of the policy- which said there were no guarantees rwanda would not return refugees to the country they had fled - he again said Rwanda is safe.

    Asked if the government has effectively made it safe just by passing a law saying it is, Heaton-Harris denied this and said "a whole host of evidence" will be presented to Parliament to show what steps the government has made to make sure the policy is safe and legally binding.

  18. Sunak calls news conference in bid to sell Rwanda planpublished at 10:00 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023
    Breaking

    Chris Mason
    Political editor

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is going to hold a news conference in Downing Street at 11:00.

    It is an indication of the tight spot he finds himself in - a hastily arranged appointment with journalists, and a big time selling job.

    He will set out why he believes his Rwanda plan - derided publicly by both former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick in the hours since it was published last night - is the only way to get some migrants on planes to the African country before the election.

    Braverman, Jenrick and plenty of other Conservative MPs think the plan is a dud that won’t work.

    But this news conference is about something bigger than this one policy.

    It is about authority and where it lies.

    Does Rishi Sunak command it, or is it slipping away with his own party?

    I’ll be there in Downing Street in the hope of asking a question.

    Follow it all here.

  19. Analysis

    Downing Street and Tories hurtling down a cul-de-sacpublished at 09:49 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    Chris Mason
    Political editor

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella BravermaImage source, PA Media

    So lukewarm, so tepid were Suella Braverman’s words about Rishi Sunak, it felt as if ice was floating on the top of them.

    Will Sunak lead the Conservatives into the general election?

    The conventional answer to that question, from a Conservative MP and with a general election campaign a year at way at most, is yes.

    "I hope he does," Braverman said instead.

    Key word there: "Hope".

    And it was a conditional hope. Conditional on doing what she thinks is necessary on Rwanda, and which No 10 says it won’t do, it can’t do.

    In other words, it seems Downing Street and a large chunk of Conservatives are hurtling down a cul-de-sac.

    And we all know what happens to the road at the end of a cul-de-sac.

    So Sunak has a persuasion job on his hands - convincing those in his party who think he’s wrong to change direction. As they demand he does.

  20. Former Supreme Court judge says Rwanda plan could stop legal battlespublished at 09:29 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2023

    Jonathan Sumption giving a speech in 2022Image source, EPA
    Image caption,

    Lord Jonathan Sumption (pictured in 2022)

    In her interview with the BBC, Suella Braverman was challenged on comments by a former supreme court justice who said the government's plan will prevent courts from blocking Rwanda flights.

    The former home secretary, who is a qualified barrister, said she disagreed with the assessment of Lord Jonathan Sumption.

    Sumption, who sat on the UK's highest court between 2012 and 2018, has argued once the government says Rwanda is safe through legistation, the courts "have got to treat it as safe, whether it is or not".

    He said to do this the courts would have to "disapply parts" of the European Convention on Human Rights to achieve this, as access to a court is a key provision of the convention.

    "The government's whole scheme depends on ensuring that the courts do not receive complaints about deportation to Rwanda," Sumption added.