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Category: UK news

  • Tory right deliver legal rebuke to Sunak’s Rwanda plan

    ERG lawyers conclude plans will not forestall court challenges, echoing concerns of goverment’s own legal team

    Rishi Sunak has been dealt a fresh blow over his Rwanda legislation as a legal assessment for the Tory right has concluded that the prime minister’s plans are not fit for purpose.

    Bill Cash, who chairs the “star chamber” of lawyers for the European Research Group, wrote in the Daily Telegraph that “at present” the legislation is not “sufficiently watertight to meet the government’s policy objectives” such as circumventing individual legal challenges by people seeking to remain in the UK.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Holyrood passes revised bill on children’s rights after UK challenge

    Scotland to become first devolved nation to incorporate UNCRC into domestic law – unless Westminster intervenes again

    Campaigners, politicians and young people who led grassroots efforts to put international children’s rights standards at the heart of Scottish law are celebrating the passing of a landmark Holyrood bill.

    The Scottish parliament voted unanimously on Thursday afternoon for Scotland to become the first devolved nation to incorporate the UN charter on the rights of the child (UNCRC) into domestic law.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK government faces legal challenge over arms exports to Israel

    Al-Haq and Global Legal Action Network argue sales of British weapons could breach international law

    The high court has been urged to intervene and suspend UK arms sales to Israel in a legal challenge launched on Wednesday.

    The Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq and the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (Glan) have applied for a judicial review of the government’s export licences for the sale of British weapons capable of being used in Israel’s action in Gaza, which has killed more than 16,000 people – mostly civilians – since 7 October, according to Gaza’s health authorities. Israel’s invasion of Gaza followed Hamas’s attack on southern Israel, in which it killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Sunak’s bill aims to block UK human rights law to save Rwanda scheme

    Emergency legislation stops short of leaving European convention on human rights and will infuriate Tory hard right

    Rishi Sunak aims to block UK human rights laws in an effort to revive the government’s faltering plans to send people seeking asylum to Rwanda.

    An emergency bill published on Wednesday will assert that ministers have the power to ignore judgments that come from Strasbourg while stopping short of leaving or “disapplying” the European convention on human rights.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Tories face ‘electoral oblivion’ unless Rwanda flights go ahead, says Braverman

    Former home secretary urges PM to block all human rights laws used to halt deportation flights

    The Conservative party faces “electoral oblivion in a matter of months” unless ministers block all human rights laws used to halt deportation flights to Rwanda, Suella Braverman has told MPs.

    In a personal statement to the Commons, the former home secretary urged Rishi Sunak to build at pace “nightingale” detention centres and stop all legal challenges using domestic and international laws.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Rishi Sunak accused of giving Rwanda millions ‘for nothing in return’

    PMQs clash comes as Suella Braverman expected to heavily criticise government’s immigration plans

    Rishi Sunak’s government has been accused by Keir Starmer of giving Rwanda “hundreds of millions of pounds for nothing in return” following the signing of a deportation treaty.

    In a clash at prime minister’s questions, the Labour leader mocked the treaty, signed on Tuesday, saying the Rwandan government of President Paul Kagame had seen the prime minister coming “a mile off”.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Tory MPs lobby to change legislation as splits emerge over Rwanda policy

    Centrist Tories want PM to stick by UK’s human rights obligations while those on the right want new bill to override them

    Tory MPs are at loggerheads as competing factions engage in last-minute lobbying efforts to try to change Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda legislation before it is published in the coming days.

    The prime minister is due to announce a new bill as soon as this week, which Downing Street says will deal with concerns raised last month by the supreme court over the government’s scheme to send asylum seekers to east Africa. It follows the signing of a new treaty with Rwanda on Tuesday by the home secretary, James Cleverly, in Kigali.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Why no concern at prisoners being paid just 50p an hour to work? | Brief letters

    Jails in China and Britain | Katherine Rundell | Gentleman and the Garrick | Dear pandas | Low hum | No FA Cup levelling up

    Reading another article about Chinese prisoners possibly making products for sale in the UK (Chinese prisoner’s ID card apparently found in lining of Regatta coat, 1 December), I wonder why there is no concern that British prisoners are forced to work for UK companies for about 50p an hour? This work provides no training for release and serves only to enrich private prison contractors.
    David Adams
    Darlington, County Durham

    • How appropriate that on the day you note that Katherine Rundell, the author of The Golden Mole, has won the Waterstones book award with Impossible Creatures (Report, 30 November), we also learn of a golden mole reappearing after being feared extinct (Report, 30 November).
    Jim Golcher
    Greens Norton, Northamptonshire

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK has high rate of teenagers missing meals due to poverty, OECD says – as it happpened

    This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage here

    The UK has suffered a sharp decline in its performance in the latest round of influential international academic tests, wiping out recent progress, as the widespread disruption caused by Covid continued to take its toll on education, the Guardian reports.

    Yesterday, when he was being interviewed at the Resolution Foundation conference, Keir Starmer was asked by Zanny Minton Beddoes, the editor of the Economist, if he could say in what way his policies were different from the Conservatives’. Starmer was able to provide a half-decent answer, but he did not entirely dispel her suggestion that in many areas the policy overlap is getting more and more pronounced.

    Today’s announcement is an admission of years of Tory failure on both the immigration system and the economy, as net migration has trebled to a record high under the Tories since they promised to reduce it at the last election.

    Labour has said repeatedly that net migration should come down and called for action to scrap the unfair 20% wage discount, raise salary thresholds based on economic evidence, bring in new training requirements linked to the immigration system, as well as a proper workforce plan for social care. Immigration is important but the system needs to be controlled and managed. But whilst the Conservatives have finally been forced to abandon the unfair wage discount that they introduced, they are still completely failing to introduce more substantial reforms that link immigration to training and fair pay requirements in the UK, meaning many sectors will continue to see rising numbers of work visas because of skills shortages.

    What that means is, if you’ve got a shortage occupation, not just health and social care workers – that might be also engineers, might also include now bricklayers – employers will still be able to recruit at less than the threshold. And yet the government is still doing nothing to tackle those skills.

    We think the Migration Advisory Committee should look at this very swiftly before it is introduced, particularly at the impact this is going to have on British citizens who fall in love across borders.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Sunak’s Rwanda asylum plan: three options after supreme court rejection

    UK prime minister is preparing a response aimed at overcoming barriers to his key immigration policy

    After the UK’s highest court last month rejected the government’s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, Rishi Sunak is preparing a response aimed at overcoming the barriers to his key immigration policy.

    The supreme court ruling undermines one of the prime minister’s key pledges to “stop the boats” making illegal crossings across the Channel. He has been facing increasing pressure from the right of the Conservative party who want him to in effect ditch the UK’s human rights framework.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Chinese prisoner’s ID card apparently found in lining of Regatta coat

    Derbyshire woman who bought item said she felt uneasy at find that raises concerns over possible prison labour

    An ID card that appears to belong to a Chinese prisoner was found inside the lining of a coat from the British brand Regatta, raising concerns that the clothing was manufactured using prison labour.

    The waterproof women’s coat was bought online by a woman in Derbyshire in the Black Friday sale. When it arrived on 22 November, she could feel a hard rectangular item in the right sleeve, which restricted the movement of her elbow.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Rwandan courts will not protect refugees’ rights, say daughters of genocide hero

    Family of Paul Rusesabagina, who campaigned to have him freed from jail, say country’s justice system is a ‘tool to oppress people’

    The Rwandan legal system is incapable of protecting refugees sent from the UK, according to the daughters of Paul Rusesabagina, the man who inspired the Oscar-nominated movie Hotel Rwanda.

    Carine and Anaïse Kanimba campaigned for more than two years to secure the release of their father, who was freed from a Kigali jail after three years of incarceration earlier this year, and they have detailed first-hand knowledge of the true nature of the Rwandan legal system.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Rwanda is a proxy in the war for the Tory soul. It’s a war Rishi Sunak is losing | Rafael Behr

    A brave leader would admit he is cornered and set out a new direction to his party and the public. He’s not that guy

    Rishi Sunak will not “stop the boats” carrying asylum seekers across the Channel. He still promotes that general ambition, but with synthetic enthusiasm that contains more exasperation than confidence.

    Even if the scheme for removing asylum claimants to Rwanda were up and running, the deterrent effect on people launching dinghies from Calais is doubtful. Facilities in Kigali can handle only a few hundred cases at most. UK government policy envisages deporting thousands. But that’s academic anyway, because the supreme court has ruled that Rwanda cannot be considered a “safe third country”, so sending refugees there would be unlawful.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK anti-strike rules may breach international law, MPs and peers warn

    Joint committee on human rights says some public sector workers may be completely prevented from striking

    Workers in some public sector jobs will be completely prevented from striking under restrictive rules that may breach international law, parliament’s watchdog on human rights has said.

    The joint committee on human rights, chaired by the Labour MP Harriet Harman, has written to the government expressing “serious concerns” about its new minimum service levels regulations covering the border force, railways and the NHS.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Andy Burnham claims government note shows Covid tier 3 restrictions imposed on Manchester as ‘punishment beating’ – as it happened

    Covid tier system introduced in October 2020 and imposed different restrictions on English regions in effort to contain spread of virus. This live blog is closed

    At the Covid inquiry Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said that he was not getting information from the government in February about Covid. He said he was “disappointed” by that.

    In late February and early March he was getting information from other cities around the world instead, he said. He said this happened even though his foreign affairs team consisted of just three people.

    The government generally does give us information about a variety of things happening. I’m disappointed the government weren’t giving us information in February about what they knew then.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Medics quitting jobs over ‘distress caused by rightwing Christian group’

    London-based Christian Legal Centre behind a number of end-of-life court cases ‘prolonging suffering’, doctors say

    Medics treating critically ill babies are quitting their jobs owing to “considerable moral distress” caused by a rightwing Christian group behind a series of end-of-life court cases, the Guardian has been told.

    Senior doctors claimed the behaviour of some evangelical campaigners was “prolonging the suffering” of seriously ill infants. They accused them of “selling falsehoods and lies” to families and of using legal tactics condemned by judges.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Shell to face human rights claims in UK over chronic oil pollution in Niger delta

    More than 13,000 Nigerian villagers can bring legal claims against oil firm, rules high court

    Thousands of Nigerian villagers can bring human rights claims against the fossil fuel company Shell over the chronic oil pollution of their water sources and destruction of their way of life, the high court in London has ruled.

    Mrs Justice May ruled this week that more than 13,000 farmers and fishers from the Ogale and Bille communities in the Niger delta were entitled to bring legal claims against Shell for alleged breaches to their right to a clean environment.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Political attack on human rights is a ‘dangerous’ assault on UK democracy, says HRW director

    Yasmine Ahmed says government actions regarding asylum seekers, climate activists and pro-Palestine protesters are starting to ‘look very much like authoritarianism’

    The British government’s aggressive politicisation of human rights is a dangerous assault on democracy that must be halted before irrevocable damage is done, the UK director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned.

    In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Yasmine Ahmed, who has been the UK director of HRW since November 2020, said the government indicating it could “disapply” the Human Rights Act to an emergency bill that will allow it to send asylum seekers to Rwanda – despite the supreme court ruling the policy illegal – is part of an escalating attack on human rights.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Just Stop Oil protesters’ jail terms potentially breach international law, UN expert says

    Sentences risk silencing public concerns about the environment, climate change rapporteur Ian Fry says

    Long sentences handed to two Just Stop Oil protesters for scaling the M25 bridge over the Thames are a potential breach of international law and risk silencing public concerns about the environment, a UN expert has said.

    In a strongly worded intervention, Ian Fry, the UN’s rapporteur for climate change and human rights, said he was “particularly concerned” about the sentences, which were “significantly more severe than previous sentences imposed for this type of offending in the past”.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Sunak could block Human Rights Act to force through Rwanda asylum plan

    No 10 has discussed possibility of ‘disapplying’ key human rights law to emergency bill to head off legal challenges

    Rishi Sunak is considering blocking a key human rights law to help force through plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda amid growing pressure from rightwing Conservative MPs.

    No 10 has discussed the possibility of “disapplying” the Human Rights Act to an emergency bill in an effort to minimise legal challenges against the prime minister’s key immigration policy. Ministers are aware such a proposal could face rebellions in the Commons and the Lords, which could vote down the proposals.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • No 10 rules out overriding international law for Rwanda asylum flights

    Downing Street says ignoring ECHR and parts of UN refugee convention could delay emergency bill

    Downing Street has ruled out a proposal by rightwing Conservatives to override international law to remove asylum seekers to Rwanda, prompting threats that rebel MPs will simply seek to amend planned legislation.

    Rishi Sunak has promised to introduce a bill to parliament to get around Wednesday’s supreme court ruling that flights to Rwanda could not take place because of the risk that people could be wrongly returned to their home countries.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Sunak rejects Braverman’s claim he does not have proper plan for making Rwanda deportations happen – as it happened

    Prime minister says he ‘will do whatever it takes’ as senior Tory criticises former home secretary’s hardline proposals

    Downing Street has not ruled out asking MPs to spend some of what is meant to be their Christmas break dealing with the PM’s “emergency legislation” on Rwanda.

    This is one proposal made by Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, in her Telegraph article this morning. (See 10.01am.)

    I think we are prepared to do whatever is necessary to ensure that we can get this in place and get flights off the ground.

    I wouldn’t speculate on parliamentary process but I cannot impress [enough] the importance that the prime minister places on this necessary legislation to deliver for the public on the important priority of stopping the boats.

    Sunak suggested he would blame Labour if the Lords refuses to pass his “emergency legislation” on Rwanda (see 11.40am) quickly. Asked if he would call an early election if the Lords block the law, he replied:

    It doesn’t have to take a long time to get legislation through – and that is a question for the Labour party.

    We’re determined to get this through as quickly as possible. So the real question is: is the Labour party going to stand in the way and stop this from happening, or are they going to work with us and support this bill so we can get it through as quickly as possible?

    Sunak declined to say whether favoured holding an early election on the issue of Rwanda deportations if his bill got held up. Earlier today Sir Simon Clarke suggested this. (See 10.56am.) But, for obvious reasons, the prospect might not appeal.

    Sunak claimed he was making “real progress” on stopping small boats. He said:

    I think people just want the problem fixed. That’s what I’m here to do, and this year, we’ve already got the numbers down by a third.

    That’s because I’ve got new deals with the French, a new deal with Albania. We’re working with Turkey and Bulgaria, multiple other countries. We’re tackling the criminal gangs, we’re cutting through the backlog.

    Sunak said he would “take on” people trying to stop Rwanda flights taking over, whether it was Labour or the House of Lords. He said:

    We can pass these laws in parliament that will give us the powers and the tools we need. Then we can get the flights off and whether it’s the House of Lords or the Labour party standing in our way I will take them on because I want to get this thing done and I want to stop the boats.

    He said his patience was “wearing thin” with this issue. He said:

    People are sick of this merry-go-round. I want to end it – my patience is wearing thin like everyone else’s.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK ministers’ efforts to revive Rwanda policy likely to fail, lawyers say

    Government accused of ‘magical thinking’ and ignoring facts on the ground that led to supreme court judgment

    Lawyers have said that UK ministers’ latest plans to get their high-profile Rwanda policy off the ground are unlikely to overcome the legal obstacles that defeated them in the supreme court on Wednesday.

    After the five judges unanimously rejected the government’s plans to deport people seeking asylum in the UK to the east African country, Rishi Sunak said that he would ensure the flights could go ahead by legislating that Rwanda was safe.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • No 10 says it will produce ‘emergency’ bill to show Rwanda safe country ‘in coming weeks’ – as it happened

    Downing Street says legislation will make clear ‘Rwanda is safe’ and will address court’s concerns after policy ruled unlawful. This live blog is closed

    At his Institute for Government Q&A Sir Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Metropolitan police, refused to say what he felt about Lee Anderson, the Conservative party deputy chair, declaring yesterday that ministers should just ignore the supreme court judgment saying the Rwanda police was unlawful. Asked to respond, Rowley just said:

    Politicians hold me to account, I don’t hold them to account.

    Starmer travelled north of the border just hours after a revolt within his party over a ceasefire in Gaza resulted in the resignation of eight of his frontbenchers.

    The Labour leader highlighted what he described as the “failure” of the UK government to negotiate a trade deal with India, a key exporter for Scotch whisky.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Cleverly ‘determined’ to get removal flight to Rwanda before general election

    Home secretary says legally binding treaty will be drafted ‘within days’ despite policy being ruled unlawful

    Ministers are “absolutely determined” to get a removal flight to Rwanda off before the next election, and will finish drafting a legally binding treaty with the country “within days”, the home secretary, James Cleverly, has said, after the policy was ruled unlawful.

    Cleverly, who was made home secretary in the reshuffle earlier this week, said the controversial policy was already having “a deterrent effect” on people smugglers.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • What options are left for Rishi Sunak after supreme court’s Rwanda ruling?

    £140m plan to send asylum seekers to east Africa found to be unlawful

    After the supreme court’s comprehensive mauling of the government’s £140m plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, leaving the policy defunct, we examine the government’s options.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Jess Phillips quits Labour frontbench as Keir Starmer suffers major rebellion over Gaza ceasefire – UK politics as it happened

    SNP motion calling for ceasefire in Gaza defeated 294-125

    Reed says the court has had to decide whether the Rwanda policy breaches the non-refoulement rule.

    The policy is in the Home Office’s immigration rules, he says.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • David Cameron denies lobbying row should rule out return; Esther McVey made minister without portfolio – as it happened

    Former PM takes seat in Lords after return as foreign secretary; James Cleverly replaces Suella Braverman; Esther McVey to reportedly tackle ‘wokery’

    ITV’s Paul Brand says he has had a text with the word “Rejoice” from a Tory MP celebrating the sacking of Suella Braverman.

    James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, has been seen going into No 10, PA Media reports.

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  • Win or lose, supreme court decision on Rwanda policy will be pivotal for Tories

    A victory for the immigration and asylum policy on Wednesday will come with headaches, but a defeat could split the Conservative party

    Wednesday marks a potentially pivotal moment in the government’s fortunes when the supreme court rules whether its plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful.

    The decision could have significant implications not just for immigration and asylum policy, but also for the future direction of Rishi Sunak’s government, and the Conservative party more widely. Here is what could follow from a government win or loss.

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  • UK supreme court to rule on legality of plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda

    A finding against the Tory policy could increase pressure on Sunak to leave European convention on human rights

    Rishi Sunak’s government will discover next Wednesday whether its flagship immigration policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful.

    The supreme court will give its judgment after the Home Office challenged a court of appeal ruling that the multimillion-pound deal to send deported asylum seekers to the east African nation was unlawful.

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