Rishi Sunak has denied claims that the government has promised to start flights carrying asylum seekers to Rwanda by the summer. Giving evidence to the Commons liaison committee, asked about reports about this supposed pledge, he replied: No one has promised flights by the summer … what we have said is we will start flights as soon as we can after legal proceedings have completed. As the Daily Mirror’s John Stevens points out, the claim that the flights were due to start by the summer was widely reported by journalists who accompanied Suella Braverman, the home secretary, to Rwanda recently.
Braverman was not quoted directly making the summer pledge, but a Home Office insider was quoted as saying “we are certainly working towards getting the flights off before the summer”. The Mail on Sunday splash headline attributed the promise to Braverman.
Sunak faced another tricky Braverman-related question at the hearing when he was asked about her claim that the south of England is facing an “invasion” of asylym seekers. Sunak did not endorse Braverman’s language, but he said the problem was significant. He told MPs: It’s very clear that the scale of the problem is significant and growing. When you’ve had a quadrupling or quintupling of the number of illegal arrivals in the space of just two years, it’s important to actually recognise the pace of what’s happening, and that’s a very large number and it’s growing very quickly. Kate Forbes, who was narrowly beaten by Humza Yousaf in the SNP leadership contest, has turned down a job in his government. The news broke after MSPs formally voted to nominate Yousaf for first minister. This is from the BBC’s Glen Campbell.
Jeremy Corbyn has issued a statement saying the Labour party’s decision to block him from standing as a candidate at the next election is “a shameful attack on party democracy, party members and natural justice”. The statement implies that he will stand again at the election as an independent.
Jeremy Hunt has conceded the Treasury will have to find extra money to fund the pay offer to NHS staff, though the Department of Health and Social Care will also be forced to make savings. People who fled the Taliban in Afghanistan are at risk of homelessness in the UK, humanitarian groups have warned, after ministers announced plans to move the refugees out of hotels and into homes on the condition they accept the first offer made to them. The terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland has been increased from substantial to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.