The passage of the Rwanda Bill late last night, after a parliamentary showdown ended between the Commons and the Lords, has been met with condemnation and outrage by a number of human rights groups. Some have described it as a ‘national disgrace’ while others slammed it as cruel and inhumane. Sunak had made stopping small boat crossings across the channel a major priority, with his Rwanda Bill a key part of his plans in doing so. The Prime Minister says that the first flights removing asylum seekers who arrive illegally to the UK to the east African country are due to take off in 10-12 weeks t ..read more

Over 12,000 people have now signed a petition calling on Keir Starmer to restore the whip to Diane Abbott, as this Tuesday marks one year since her whip was suspended.  Trade unions, campaigners and MPs have joined the call to reinstate her Labour whip using the anniversary of her suspension as a call for action from the Labour leader.  Diane Abbott lost the whip following an article she wrote which suggested Irish, Jewish and Traveller people are not subject to racism “all their lives”, distinguishing between anti-black racism. She went on to withdraw her remarks and issued an apolo ..read more

Richard Burgon is the Labour MP for Leeds East The same oil and gas giants behind the record energy bills that have forced so many into poverty have also brought us to the cliff edge of climate catastrophe. If we are to have a fighting chance of preventing the worst of the climate crisis, then we need to rapidly cut fossil fuel use. Key to that is breaking the vast power that oil and gas companies have over our politics. That’s why this week I will present a Bill in the House of Commons to ban MPs from receiving funding or any other benefit from oil and gas companies. My Private Members Bill w ..read more

The Tory Party’s London mayoral hopeful has been accused by Labour of proposing spending plans “straight out of the Liz Truss playbook” after the opposition party identified unfunded spending plans.  The Tory Party’s waning argument of being ‘the party of sound money’ is contested once again, as Labour have warned that the party’s candidate for London mayor, Susan Hall, has made pledges that amount to a £515m budget black hole.  Based on her manifesto promises including plans to scrap ULEZ in outer London, the Labour party calculated that the Tory candidate’s policies come at a large ..read more

The passage of the Rwanda Bill late last night, after a parliamentary showdown ended between the Commons and the Lords, has been met with condemnation and outrage by a number of human rights groups. Rishi Sunak’s emergency Rwanda Bill finally passed, with the Prime Minister saying that the first flights removing asylum seekers who arrive illegally to the UK to the east African country are due to take off in 10-12 weeks time. Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill, which forms a key part of his plan to stop small boat crossings across the channel, has faced a number of legal setbacks, after the Supreme ..read more

Illegal Migration Minister Michael Tomlinson clashed with a presenter this morning in an excruciating interview when he was pressed for details of the Government’s Rwanda Bill, after it was passed through last night. Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill was passed into law in the early hours of Tuesday morning having been fiercely criticised in and out of Parliament, with Tory Minister Tomlinson on the media rounds to defend the bill.  Not a stranger to car crash interviews, Tomlinson led a heated exchange with Mishal Husain on the BBC Today programme in a painful interview after the Tory minister w ..read more

Jon Trickett is Labour MP for Hemsworth Given the explosive growth in our country of poverty and deprivation in recent years, how do Conservative politicians sleep at night with a clean conscience? What kind of reasoning has led the Prime Minister to believe that doctors ought not to decide whether their patient is well enough to work. Simple. They blame the poor for their own poverty. Easy as that. Self-exculpatory thinking. Others are to blame, but not the Tory government. Don’t believe me? Take a look at various statements made by senior Conservative politicians in the modern era.  On ..read more

GB News has begun a round of redundancy, seeking to cut 40 roles, amid an operating loss of £42.4m. Chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos announced the redundancy plans to staff last week, with Press Gazette reporting: “The business is currently appealing for staff open to taking voluntary redundancy to come forward, offering up to two months’ salary and possible payment in lieu of notice as enticement. “One staffer at the channel told Press Gazette there was “a real ‘last days of Saigon’ vibe in the office right now”. The right-wing channel announced last month that its operating losses had gr ..read more

The Shadow Transport Secretary has accused the Tories of a “scandalous misuse of taxpayers’ money” after it was revealed that more rail operators have had their performance targets lowered, helping company bosses get bonuses.  At least eight rail firms have had their performance targets lowered by the Government as Labour accused ministers of “rigging the rules” to reward “abject failure”. In February it was reported that Tory ministers cut the standards for train cleanliness, ticketing, staffing and customer services at Govia Thameslink Railway, after the company had failed to reach serv ..read more

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing yet more humiliation after breaking yet another pledge, which he insisted he was on track to meet just two weeks ago. Rishi Sunak had promised that flights removing asylum seekers to Rwanda, who had arrived via illegal routes, would be taking off in the Spring, despite the legislation being hit by a number of delays and setbacks. He now says that he expects deportation flights to take off to the east African country in 10-12 weeks’ time. Sunak’s press conference at Downing Street this morning came as his flagship Rwanda bill undergoes the Parliamentary ‘pin ..read more