Politics latest: 'Enough is enough,' Sunak declares - Rwanda flights starting 'come what may' (2024)

We've just heard from Labour's shadow home secretary following Rishi Sunak's news conference in which he blamed Labour for delaying the Rwanda bill.

Yvette Cooper told broadcasters: "The government has an overall majority in parliament and could have passed this bill a month ago if they had scheduled it then.

"But as we know, Rishi Sunak always looks for someone else to blame."

She said the Rwanda scheme is costing taxpayers "half-a-billion pounds for a scheme that will only cover 1% of asylum seekers".

"This is an extortionate scheme," she said, saying ministers"should be putting that money into boosting our border security instead".

Asked if Labour would scrap the scheme even if it was working, Ms Cooper replied: "This is an extortionate scheme that has failed just like the previous two laws that the Conservatives have passed on this, and it is why neither the current home secretary nor the former home secretary think this is going to work."

Labour, she said, would put the money into a "new cross-border police and new counter-terror-style powers to go after the criminal gangs".

Two of Westminster's best-connected journalists, Sky News's Sam Coates and Politico's Jack Blanchard, guide you through their top predictions for the next seven days in British politics.

This week, they react to MP Mark Menzies' resignation from the Conservative Party and look at what it might mean for the next election.

Also this week, Rishi Sunak is packing his bags for Europe. Jack and Sam discuss what's on the trip's agenda, including highly anticipated announcements on the defence of Ukraine, as well as the UK's wider defence and warfare strategy.

Mr Sunak's Rwanda plan could finally pass through parliament too, more than five months after he unveiled the emergency laws. Jack and Sam reveal the final stage will be far from straightforward though, with MPs told to expect a long night in the Commons.

Plus, Angela Rayner is standing in for Keir Starmer at PMQs this week, the first time she's been in the Commons since police announced they were investigating her. Jack and Sam discuss how she'll deal with the mounting pressure.

👉Listen above then tap here to follow Politics at Jack at Sam's wherever you get your podcasts👈

Email with your thoughts and rate how their predictions play out: jackandsam@sky.uk or jackandsam@politico.co.uk

Train drivers who are members of the Aslef union at 16 companies have announced fresh strike dates as part of their long-running dispute over pay.

Drivers at different companies will walk out on various dates between 7 May and 9 May.

They will also refuse to work non-contractual overtime from 6 May to 11 May.

Aslef says train drivers have not had a pay increase in five years, despite the increase in the cost of living, and train companies have refused to talk to them since they voted for fresh industrial action since February.

Read more on this breaking story here.

A prime minister desperate to convince voters he and his party can still be trusted to "stop the boats", Rishi Sunak stood at the podium in Downing Street with the very slogan slapped on the front of it.

But is that slogan a reminder of a promise, or a reminder of a failure?

Calling a news conference to tell us all what you are doing to get this policy off the ground may seem rather unnecessary, but it is a warning shot to the Lords who have continued to stop the bill becoming law due to their concerns around its legality and protection of vulnerable people.

Mr Sunak insists flights will take off in 10 to 12 weeks from now, and that lawyers, judges and even courts have been prepared to deal with legal challenges and obstacles to getting flights off to Rwanda.

But even if flights do take off, is the public even listening anymore?

Public apathy and loss of trust could be Mr Sunak's biggest hurdle to climb, even if this embattled prime minister can prove he can make Suella Braverman's dream a reality.

Over a year ago, Rishi Sunak made five pledges for voters to judge him on.

One of the promises was to stop small boats crossing the Channel.

The PM said in his news conference earlier that the country can see the success of his efforts to stop illegal migration, noting that small boat crossings last year were down a third on the year before.

But so far this year, the number of people having made the crossing is higher than at the same time last year.

Use our tool below to see the PM's progress for yourself:

Here is the Liberal Democrats' reaction to Rishi Sunak's news conference...

The party leader, Sir Ed Davey, says: "No amount of sound bites or spin can change the fact that the Conservatives' Rwanda scheme is a colossal failure."

He accuses the government of having wasted "millions of pounds and years of government attention" on the policy.

"It's time for Rishi Sunak to get a grip, get to [Buckingham] Palace and give this country the election it is cryingoutfor."

We've just been hearing from our deputy political editor Sam Coateswith his reaction to Rishi Sunak's news conference.

"One of the ways in which to judge these press conferences is in terms of the new information - what is the prime minister telling us that we didn't know before?" Sam says.

"Effectively, the prime minister now formally confirmed there is yet another delay to the moment that flights will take off to Rwanda."

Rishi Sunak had promised to get flights off in the spring, but now it will be in late June or early July.

The other piece of new information is that the government expects "multiple flights a month through the summer", contradicting speculation that ministers would work to get one symbolic flight off the ground as proof of concept.

More broadly, Sam notes there are two questions about election timing, saying: "If there is no Rwanda policy, it feels very hard to read between the lines and get any hint that there will be an election pre-summer given that the policy won't be under way [at that point]."

That means we can "take as a broad hint" that the election will be, as the prime minister has previously said, in the second half of the year.

The main messages of that news conference were the level of preparation the government has been doing to get the policy and trying to blame Labour peers, though Sam said there are "many factors" that went into the delay.

He adds the deterrent of the policy, and therefore stopping small boats crossing the Channel, is the "mark of success in this policy".

"We'll just have to see whether it works," he says.

Rishi Sunak has now finished his news conference about the Rwanda scheme.

The PM was forceful in insisting the government will get flights off the ground "come what may", and blamed Labour peers for delaying the bill.

Scroll down to read what he said.

Rishi Sunak is asked whether he is still confident Rwanda is on board with the scheme, and says he met his counterpart the other week.

The two sides have a "good close relationship", he says, and Rwanda is "doing absolutely everything required to make sure the scheme is successful".

A joint monitoring committee has been set up, lawyers are ready and judges have been trained, Mr Sunak says.

The plan is "in very good shape".