EXCLUSIVE:
Priti Patel has sided with the group of Cabinet ministers calling for PM to go
The home secretary - one of Johnson's most loyal supporters - believes there's no way he can continue to govern without the support of his party
She's joined Shapps and Gove NOT Dorries
The Foreign Office official twitter account, or at least somebody who has access to it, has liked this tweet celebrating Priti Patel's departure...🧐
(It's since been unliked!)
The Home Office has sacked David Neal, the "independent" chief inspector of borders and immigration... for speaking to the media.
The 15 reports he has submitted to the Home Office in the last year remain unpublished.
That's why he spoke to the media, to expose his findings
Excl: Decisions made by Suella Braverman led directly to overcrowding and outbreaks of scabies and diphtheria at the migrant centre in Kent.
She blocked the transfer of migrants to hotels in a bid to cut costs but meant numbers soared to triple capacity:
David Neal, chief inspector of Borders & Immigration, says he's not met the home secretary since starting job 14 months ago
He says 6 scheduled meetings with Priti Patel have been cancelled
"I'm frustrated because I think I have a lot of things to offer"
@CommonsHomeAffs
NEW: Big climb down just slipped out without any fanfare by the Home Office on its plans to reduce immigration
Minimum income threshold needed to bring foreign spouses to UK will only rise to £29,000 initially. No timeline for it to be raised to £38,700
Jeremy Corbyn's senior policy adviser Andrew Fisher told a meeting of Labour Shadow Cabinet political advisers today that people who continue to leak would be sacked.
And that threat has now been leaked to me.
NEW tonight: Maureen Lipman has recorded a mock version of her iconic BT advert to launch a blistering attack on Jeremy Corbyn's economic plans - and also accuses him of having an "ology of extremism".
WATCH HERE:
At the same time as Boris sets out his vision in his first Commons statement, Theresa May, David Gauke, Greg Clark and her former chief of staff Gavin Barwell are watching the cricket at Lord's with no care in the world:
EXCL: Hundreds of civil servants have attended meetings to discuss how to force the government to change policy on the Israel-Gaza war.
Oliver Dowden has suspended the Civil Service Muslim Network and started disciplinary action as memo reveals the meetings featured a string of…
Emily Thornberry told a Labour MP in a pro-Leave seat: "I’m glad my constituents aren’t as stupid as yours," Caroline Flint reveals on
@RidgeOnSunday
.
NEW: Ministers have rebuked West Midlands Police for refusing to stop protests disrupting Tory party conference.
The commander on the ground told party bosses it would be “too political” for officers to intervene.
The officer added: “This isn’t Belarus.”
I interviewed one of the main opposition leaders in Rwanda.
She warned that Rwanda doesn't have space for thousands of migrants from the UK, they'll struggle to find jobs, they'll worsen Rwanda's unemployment problem & they won't be safe if they protest:
Border Force staff say thousands of tourists are entering the UK every day despite ongoing lockdown restrictions - including one from Peru who stated on their visa form the reason for their trip was to “visit Big Ben”.
And no, it wasn't Paddington
EXCL: The India trade deal is on the "verge of collapse" after Indian ministers reacted furiously to Suella Braverman criticising migrants from their country:
Excl: Boris Johnson joked that his removal from No 10 was the “greatest stitch-up since the Bayeux Tapestry” in his quip-filled wedding party speech last night:
European Court of Human Rights granted injunctions for three of the seven migrants who were due to be removed to Rwanda last night, Priti Patel says
The remaining four migrants were removed from the flight after being granted injunctions by UK courts or on modern slavery grounds
John Bercow dismisses the very serious bullying allegations against him from David Leakey (Parliament's ex Black Rod) by saying he's "thrashing around desperate to remain relevant… trying to make himself look important and centre stage".
Interesting coming from Bercow!
@SkyNews
Incredible evidence being given by Home Office officials at
@CommonsHomeAffs
:
The Home Office has only processed 4% of asylum claims from Channel migrants last year.
85% of those completed claims were granted asylum.
No wonder the asylum backlog has soared over 100,000
Excl: Investigation by
@thetimes
into the scale of abuse of Christian conversion in the asylum system has found:
- Murderers, rapists, drug dealers & burglars avoided deportation by claiming they're Christian converts
- Outlandish claims lodged included a "Christian" who spent a…
NEW: Labour will REJECT the PM's offer of an early election. Jeremy Corbyn will announce tonight. Comes following an emergency meeting of his Shadow Cabinet.
This part of the Brexit extension bill is v. significant.
It states the EU can choose the length of the extension - without a limit - and the Prime Minister must agree to it:
Boris Johnson says positive cases are rising in the UK for the first time since May. One in 1,500 now have the virus compared to 1 in 1,800 at the start of July, according to
@ONS
The Association of British Insurance has put out a statement saying standard business interruption cover - which majority of firms purchase - does not include forced closure by authorities
PCR providers are now offering tests as cheap as 30p so they get to the top of the govt's approved list of firms...but then when you click on their link the cheapest available is £59
It's like we've rewound 6 months when Javid vowed to remove rogue firms
EXCL: Tory MP Richard Harrington is tonight announcing he will quit the Commons at the next election and he confirms he'll vote to block a No Deal Brexit next week.
But he insists his decision to stand down is nothing to do with the PM's prorogation plans.
Home Office has quietly changed immigration rules today to add senior social care workers, nursing assistants, pharmacists, foreign language teachers & some dentists to the Shortage Occupation List - making it easier for foreign workers to come to the UK on a skilled worker visa
Earlier today we visited one of the accommodation blocks where migrants sent from the UK will live while their asylum claims are processed.
They will stay in complexes like this hostel in the north-east of the capital city Kigali for up to three months:
Boris Johnson says he doesn't want to dictate how Brits should celebrate the end of 47 years of EU rules this time next week, telling
@MrHarryCole
: 'The government has has done quite enough of bossing people around over the last ten months or so.'
Boris Johnson claims that one of the reasons we're having this election is because the Queen's Speech got blocked by Parliament...
But that's one of the few votes he actually won!
#marrshow
Excl: Boris Johnson's appeal against the court summons over claims he lied during the referendum has been delayed - because the judge assigned to the case was Ed Miliband's wife!
PM urges EU citizens who haven't applied for settled status to "get on with it" ahead of tonight's deadline
Dismisses calls for extension, insisting it's 5 yrs since the referendum
In that referendum he promised them they'd "automatically be granted indefinite leave to remain"
Labour MP Peter Kyle asks Boris Johnson where Britain has more influence in the world since he became prime minister.
The PM responds: "Virtually everywhere."
After going through David Neal's 13 reports, it's clearer to understand why the
@ukhomeoffice
wanted to suppress them:
- Unmanned border posts at airports
- Goods going unchecked for days at customs
- X-Ray devices failing to pick up migrants in lorries
Full breakdown here:…
Excl: I joined
@pritipatel
on a 5am raid in Brixton this morning as police arrested the suspected head of a county lines network that runs from London to Sussex:
The Rwandan govt has put out a clarification:
Yolande Makolo, chief spokesperson, says Rwanda has "no obligation" to return any of the funds paid.
But says that if no migrants come to Rwanda under the scheme and the UK requests a refund, "we will consider this request".
That full Diane Abbott quote at Shadow Cabinet according to one in the room was: “The PLP were in the tea room and my office crying about an election saying Jeremy should stand down in 2017. So frankly the PLP can go fuck themselves."
Suella Braverman says it would be “my dream” to see a flight deporting migrants to Rwanda by Christmas.
But she warns it will take much longer because of the lengthy process of legal challenges.
#ChoppersPolitics
Extraordinary intervention from Albanian PM responding to Suella Braverman's "insane" rhetoric.
Edi Rama accuses her of using "easy rhetoric" to hide from UK govt policy failings
He warns that Britain must treat Albania with "respect" if it wants a deal:
NEW: Boris Johnson & Penny Mordaunt spoke on the phone this afternoon
Mordaunt rejected his request to back him, saying most of her supporters would rather switch to Sunak than him
She also told him that some of his supporters had switched to backing her
NEW: Privy Council Office confirms the Queen has approved to the proroguing of Parliament "no earlier than Monday 9th
September and no later than Thursday 12th September" until October 14th:
Excl: The Tories are on course to lose the next election over their failure to tackle the Channel migrant crisis alone.
The issue ranks above all other factors that are swaying 2019 Tory voters to switch to another party in a poll by
@Moreincommon_
:
Shadow Brexit minister Matthew Pennycook says any Tory-Labour deal must include a 2nd ref:
Says if cross-party talks succeed it must include "the requirement for seeking public approval for any agreement that might emerge at this late hour by means of a confirmatory referendum"
The current 'R' value for coronavirus across the UK is believed to be around 0.7 (the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to on average), says NHS England medical director Stephen Powis
Some Tory MPs are saying that conditions are better at Manston than they are in the Calais camps.
But the key difference is this: Migrants at Manston are in the care of the UK government. Those in Calais camps are not in the care of the French government.
Home Office source said the briefing was part of “ensuring the department can abide by its statutory duties.”
They said Braverman had regularly shared sensitive government information on her personal phone and email. “She never used her work phone."
On the same day as the government failed to remove 7 Channel migrants to Rwanda, 444 made the crossing in 11 small boats, figures published by the MoD have revealed.
Make of this what you will - protesters screaming and chanting "traitor" and "shame on you" at Jacob Rees-Mogg as he leaves Parliament just now with his 12-year-old son.
It's extraordinary that
@trussliz
and
@EmmanuelMacron
didn't discuss the Channel migrant crisis in their bilateral today, considering almost 30,000 have crossed already this year and 4,673 just this month...
And now Rishi Sunak is facing a fresh backlash from right-wing Tories.
Miriam Cates says: “Reducing the threshold for spousal visas so soon after promising a crack down does not bode well.’
It follows a major backlash to the decision to more than double the family income threshold announced less than 3 weeks ago.
At no point did the government suggest this policy would be introduced in stages. It said it would be introduced in the spring.
And the change was…
Former Tory Home Office minister criticises Suella Braverman for rowing back on three of Wendy Williams' 30 recommendations for reform in the wake of the Windrush scandal 👇
The Windrush Scandal was a stain on this country. Committing to implement ALL of Wendy William's recommendations was a key part of rebuilding confidence with the communities affected. I share Wendy's disappointment this pledge to them is not being honoured
NEW: Britain's High Commissioner to Rwanda warned against removing migrants there because they could be forced to join the country's army and sent to fight in neighbouring countries.
The Foreign Office also repeatedly warned No10 against the policy:
Another barb from Theresa May on quarantine:
"Instead of bringing in measures to close Britain off from the rest of the world, why is the Govt not taking a lead in developing international aviation health screening standard to save jobs & ensure Britain is open for businesses?"
NEW: The Home Office can only locate 38 per cent of the migrants it intends to deport to Rwanda.
Only 2,143 of the 5,700 of the migrants Rwanda has agreed to accept "continue to report to the Home Office and can be located for detention".
Info slipped out by
@ukhomeoffice
in a…
This surely gives Boris Johnson an open goal if there is an election - he'll claim it's proof that 'Remainers want to delay Brexit indefinitely and hand all control over Brexit to Brussels'
This part of the Brexit extension bill is v. significant.
It states the EU can choose the length of the extension - without a limit - and the Prime Minister must agree to it:
Tory Brexiteer Mark François tells the
@BrugesGroup
that if Britain stays in the EU beyond May's European elections then we will become a "Trojan Horse within the EU" and will "derail" all their federal projects
A Ukrainian refugee has been left separated from her 11-year-old son after the UK changed visa rules without warning on Monday.
Downing Street wrongly told reporters the changes wouldn't affect the ability of Ukrainians to join their family in the UK:
David Neal has issued a staunch defence of his decision to speak to the media about details of his inspection reports.
Says he identified security failings, which he reported to the Home Office but has no confidence that the department will publish them after sitting on 15 of…
Excl: One in four foreign care workers are working illegally in the UK, David Neal, outgoing chief inspector of borders and immigration, reveals.
He also found the Home Office issued 275 visas to a care home that didn't exist and 1,234 to a company that only had 4 domestic…
Tonight's resignation of Universities & Science Minister Sam Gyimah is a massive blow to Theresa May's hopes of getting any semblance of her Brexit deal through Parliament - his words in tomorrow's Telegraph are damning
It led to overcrowding at the Manston processing centre because migrants were not leaving quickly enough to accommodate new arrivals
It's only designed to hold people for 24 hours but one Afghan family was there for 32, with people sleeping on blankets and door mats on the floor
Excl: Senior Home Office officials have warned No10 their emergency Rwanda law won't work and believe it's just a "political gimmick".
Govt lawyers are refusing to approve 'full fat' option that disapplies the ECHR as it breaches civil service code: