Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Sunak braces for Rwanda asylum legislation battle

UK’s Rwanda asylum legislation to return to parliament next week

Sunak braces for Rwanda asylum legislation battle

PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak's legislation to block further court challenges to the government's plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda will return to parliament next week.

Sunak faced the most serious threat to his leadership when he saw off a revolt by dozens of his lawmakers during the first parliamentary vote on the draft legislation last month.


The government won that first vote more comfortably than had been expected after about 30 Tory members of parliament decided to abstain rather than oppose the bill.

But the rebels warned that they could vote down the legislation at later stages of the parliamentary process unless the bill was changed to make it tougher.

It will now be debated on Jan. 16 and 17, the leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt said on Tuesday (9), when lawmakers have their first opportunity to put forward amendments.

The government is trying to reduce a surge in asylum-seekers who make the dangerous crossing in small boats from neighbouring France to the southern coast of England.

Sunak has staked his premiership on “stopping the boats” and has vowed to push through the plan to deport migrants to Rwanda before a general election expected this year.

In November, the UK Supreme Court ruled Sunak's policy of deporting migrants to Rwanda would breach British and international human rights laws and agreements.

In response, Sunak agreed a new treaty with the East African nation and brought forward the new legislation designed to override any legal obstacles that would stop deportations.

(Reuters)

More For You

Martin Parr

Martin Parr death at 73 marks end of Britain’s vivid chronicler of everyday life

Getty Images

Martin Parr, who captured Britain’s class divides and British Asian life, dies at 73

Highlights:

  • Martin Parr, acclaimed British photographer, died at home in Bristol aged 73.
  • Known for vivid, often humorous images of everyday life across Britain and India.
  • His work is featured in over 100 books and major museums worldwide.
  • The National Portrait Gallery is currently showing his exhibition Only Human.
  • Parr’s legacy continues through the Martin Parr Foundation.

Martin Parr, the British photographer whose images of daily life shaped modern documentary work, has died at 73. Parr’s work, including his recent exhibition Only Human at the National Portrait Gallery, explored British identity, social rituals, and multicultural life in the years following the EU referendum.

For more than fifty years, Parr turned ordinary scenes into something memorable. He photographed beaches, village fairs, city markets, Cambridge May Balls, and private rituals of elite schools. His work balanced humour and sharp observation, often in bright, postcard-like colour.

Keep ReadingShow less