In a dramatic statement in the Commons, the ousted former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has laid out her Rwanda position. She said that we don’t actually have to leave the ECHR, even though she favours it – emergency legislation can be enacted, but has to meet the following five tests:
Braverman finished by saying “electoral oblivion” awaits the Tories if another failing bill is put forward. The gauntlet is thrown down…
Suella Braverman told the Political Cartoon Awards about as her portrayal as a…
“… vampire bat, a cranky crayfish, a Halloween ghoul, a zombie, a devil, Morticia Addams, a murderous Chiron, Spitting Image had me as the girl from The Exorcist. You also had me as an angry Statue of Liberty, a Superbraverman, and Barbie… you make politicians look much more interesting than we really are to be honest and you’re a pillar of our Free Press and I hope that you continue unhindered by political interference… whether politicians are offended is neither here or there and you can count on me to always fight for your right to offend. Freedom of press is back in the forefront of our minds once more regarding the Telegraph newspaper and The Spectator magazine and I want to be clear I oppose their takeover by Redbird. The Telegraph is one of the bedrocks of our Free Press and The Spectator is an irrepressible voice for challenging established orthodoxies. To my mind, there is no doubt that this takeover will hinder the accurate presentation of news and the free expression of opinion, and the independence of the paper will undeniably be compromised if its control is seeded to the hands of a foreign state that freedom is essential now more than ever in a healthy democracy and I hope that that takeover does not go ahead. To finish, thank you for uglifying us, thank you for taking the piss out of me, long may you continue doing your hard work.”
Rishi has announced emergency legislation to ask Parliament to designate Rwanda a safe country, in addition to the new treaty to be presented to the courts. Sounds a lot like a panicked resurrection of Boris’ proposal…
Sunak says that the first plane will leave in Spring next year. He adds “I will not allow a foreign court to block these flights. If the Strasbourg court chooses to intervene against the expressed wishes of Parliament, I am prepared to do what is necessary to get flights off“. He refused to confirm if a flight would depart before the election. Number 10 is keen for Plan B to at least look beefy…
Snap YouGov polling of 3,400 Brits has support for scrapping the policy altogether higher than for a similar agreement with a new country at 39% to 29%. ECHR membership has the support of 51% of people compared to 28% who want to withdraw. Crucially, however, among 2019 Tory voters the policy’s continuation has 49% support. Stay tuned for updates…
The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that the current Rwanda plan is unlawful. Lord Reed, Supreme Court President, delivered the ruling which dismissed the government’s case and ruled in favour of June’s Court of Appeal ruling. The court was considering whether Rwanda is a “safe third country” for migrants to be sent to. Braverman said in her letter yesterday that Number 10 had no “Plan B“, though several options have been mooted.
UPDATE: Sunak has released a statement and planned a press conference for 4:45 p.m.
Read Sunak’s response below:
Suella has just published her letter to Sunak. It’s worth reading in full…
Read it below:
The long-awaited Ri-shuffle will continue tomorrow as Sunak shuffles the junior ranks in his election personnel team. The election Cabinet appears to be set as of tonight. Braverman’s ejection has her allies restless and plotting. The ball is in their court…
Cameron’s surprise appointment, which was brokered by Sunak consigliere William Hague, is meant to give Sunak more space for domestic policy. Cleverly is said to be frustrated with the loss of the FCDO brief and has already taken on a different tone to Braverman. No one is surprised at Coffey’s departure, which took a mammoth 2 hours and 45 minutes to be confirmed. Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen said he was “alarmed” about the tax burden and found himself out of a job four days later. Greg Hands was sent to the Department for Trade to serve there for the 4th time. One of the stranger reshuffle days, this is apparently the big plan for the campaign…
Team Sunak operatives Richard Holden, Victoria Atkins, and Laura Trott get new jobs. A crop of ministers looking to leave Parliament resigned – ACOBA rules mandate a 6-month wait between leaving government and taking a new job. An indication they are expecting the election to happen in May…
