Starmer pledges to 'rebuild Britain's broken asylum system'
Keir Starmer has pledged that Labour would “rebuild Britain’s broken asylum system” if elected at the next general election.
Speaking at a press conference in Dover, the Labour leader said:
I believe in a rules based asylum system. I believe that a system that processes claims quickly and humanely, that finds ways without squeamishness or cruelty to detain and remove people who have no right to be, is essential for security, fairness and justice. It is a form of deterrence in itself.
Because until we are seen around the world as a country that has a firm grip of the processes at our border. Until we’re busting the Home Office backlog, arriving at decisions quickly without a fuss, so we can return people who have no right to be here then yes, Britain will be seen as a soft touch.
And it goes without saying we do not have that effective deterrence of our borders at the moment. Our rules based asylum system isn’t working. Ask anyone in this part of the world, that much is obvious.
He says Labour will “save taxpayers billions” by setting up “a new fast track returns and enforcement unit that will make sure the courts can process claims quickly.”
He says “I have no doubt that the British people fully support a rules-based asylum system. No doubt that the fair-minded majority want a system that secures Britain’s borders, and uphold this country’s fine tradition of providing sanctuary to people fleeing persecution.”
Starmer adds “We have to restore integrity and rules to our asylum system. We have to clear the backlog so we can return people swiftly.
Labour would immediately cancel deportation flights to Rwanda if it entered government, Keir Starmer has pledged. After a speech in which he announced his plans to tackle illegal immigration, Starmer committed to scrapping the Rwanda scheme “absolutely, flights and all”.
Starmer welcomed Labour’s newest MP, Natalie Elphicke, at a speech in Dover and said her defection was proof that the party was building a broad range of support. The Labour party should be “less tribal” and be open to “reasonably minded people, whichever way they voted in the past”, he said. Elphicke said “Under Keir Starmer, Labour occupies the centre ground”.
Starmer says Labour government would scrap Rwanda deportation scheme – video
The UK is officially out of recession after figures showed the economy grew by 0.6% in the first three months of the year. Prime minister Rishi Sunak said “things are starting to feel better”. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said a government “victory lap” over 0.6% growth shows “how out of touch they are”.
John Swinney has chaired his first cabinet meeting as first minister of Scotland. He said “Today, my colleagues and I embark on a new chapter as we collectively work to build a better, brighter future for the people of Scotland.”
First minister of Wales, Vaughan Gething, has appealed to Tata Steel not to close its blast furnaces at Port Talbot until it has had a chance to speak to any new Labour government in Westminster.
Mark Harper, the Conservative transport secretary, is examining whether there should be a ban on the use of what are known as floating bus stops, where a segregated bike lane is routed behind a bus stop and passengers cross the cycle lane to reach it.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan has told the Times that parents working from home have contributed to a rise in students missing school days.
Judges on a freedom of information tribunal have ruled that the cost of protecting members of the royal familycannot be revealed to the public.
Thank you so much for your comments and emails today. I hope you have as good a weekend as you are able to, and I will see you on the Guardian website again somewhere soon.
A three-year political impasse and ongoing budget uncertainty left the health system in Northern Ireland less well equipped to deal with a pandemic in 2020 than it had been a decade earlier, the region’s chief medical officer (CMO) has said.
PA Media reports that Sir Michael McBride told the Covid-19 Inquiry that services were existing on a “hand-to-mouth” basis in the years leading up to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic at the outset of 2020.
Giving evidence in Belfast he said:
I think that it is absolutely preferable to have a government in Northern Ireland, to have ministers in place. I think we were fortunate during the pandemic that we did have ministers in place and a government in place.
I think that that period between 2017 for three years until three weeks before the pandemic started was a difficult period. We headed into this pandemic with a less resilient health and social care system, budgetary uncertainty, significant workforce challenges and vacancies, (and) a system that was long overdue for change.
The Northern Ireland assembly held elections in March 2017, but did not formally convene after voting until January 2020.
Ministers are considering banning a standard design feature for cycle lanes, the Guardian has learned, in a move campaign groups warn could make building separated bike routes on many main roads effectively impossible, and put riders at risk.
Mark Harper, the transport secretary, is examining whether there should be a halt in the use of what are known as floating bus stops, where a segregated bike lane is routed behind a bus stop and passengers cross the cycle lane to reach it.
These have been used very widely in other European countries for years, and in some UK cities for more than a decade. They allow cyclists to keep out of the way of buses which regularly pull in and out, which makes the routes safer, and the bike lanes are more likely to be used by children and less confident cyclists.
However, there has been criticism that some of the UK examples – especially in London – are not designed sufficiently well, and make using buses intimidating and sometimes dangerous for blind people.
Security costs of UK royals cannot be made public, judges rule
David Pegg and Rob Evans report for the Guardian:
Judges on a freedom of information tribunal have ruled that the cost of protecting members of the royal family cannot be revealed to the public.
The two judges made their decision after hearing detailed evidence behind closed doors from a senior Home Office official. They ruled that this secrecy prevented them from explaining in their public judgment fully why they had accepted the official’s evidence.
The judges Lynn Griffin and Jo Swaney rejected an attempt by the Guardian to establish how much of taxpayers’ money was spent on protecting the Windsors.
John Swinney has chaired his first cabinet meeting as first minister of Scotland.
He said “Today, my colleagues and I embark on a new chapter as we collectively work to build a better, brighter future for the people of Scotland. It is my greatest honour to lead us forward on that journey – one that will drive economic growth, tackle the climate crisis and eradicate the scourge of child poverty in our country once and for all.”
John Swinney's first cabinet meeting at Bute House in Edinburgh. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/PA
Earlier today home secretary James Cleverly posted to social media saying “When Keir Starmer talks about illegal migration, this is who he wants to be the home secretary. This is who he would put in charge of stopping the boats.”
He coupled it with a shot of an FT article with the headline “Yvette Cooper urges ‘immoral’ UK to take 10,000 refugees” which referenced at that time Syrian asylum seekers fleeing the war there and heading to Europe.
Cooper has just pointed out in a reply:
Er, James…… This is your Government’s policy to help 20,000 Syrian refugees, announced just after this article! Which four days later you welcomed!! “I welcome David Cameron’s announcement that the UK will provide sanctuary to thousands more Syrians”
Er, James…… This is your Government’s policy to help 20,000 Syrian refugees, announced just after this article!
Which 4 days later you welcomed!! “I welcome David Cameron’s announcement that the UK will provide sanctuary to thousands more Syrians” https://t.co/8RLMEYDiGo 🤦♀️ https://t.co/5es1F2kzDP
She links to an article on his own website, where Cleverly goes on to say “It is right and proper that we prioritise the help to these people rather than those already in safe countries in mainland Europe or those who might otherwise turn to traffickers who have a vested interest in using more dangerous routes.”
In the article dated 5 September 2015 he continued, “We must also work with the international community to make people trafficking the most unappealing criminal activity on the planet. There should be no safe place for those who trade in this human tragedy.”
PA Media reports that in the Lords, former Conservative minister Baron Blencathra has done the opposite of putting the cat among the pigeons, by suggesting that the UK should ban cat flaps.
As David Maclean he served in the early 1990s in John Major’s government as minister of state for the environment and countryside, and he said today there is “no justification whatsoever” for cat owners to take a “laissez-faire attitude” by letting their pet “go in and out when it pleases”.
He said outdoor cats should be required to wear collars and bells, as he pointed to research suggesting this helps reduce the number of birds killed by felines.
Peers were supporting a proposed law to create two new offences of cat and dog abduction in England and Northern Ireland. The Bill would make it an offence to take a cat or dog from the lawful control of another person, and moves to recognise the emotional distress of losing a pet, not just treating them as property theft.
The law proposes that animals like Willow here be treated as more than property for the purposes of charging people with theft. Photograph: Martin Belam/The Guardian
The challenges facing Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation plans have been underlined once again as protesters sprang into action to block what they believed was going to be a removal of asylum seekers from a London hostel.
Dozens of people – ranging from young activists to some local people – are maintaining a line outside Driscoll House in Southwark after reports were shared on social media that removal was happening.
It comes a week after hundreds of protesters blocked an attempt to collect asylum seekers from a hotel in Peckham and take them to the Bibby Stockholm barge. The Home Office also abandoned plans to move asylum seekers in Margate to the Bibby Stockholm in the wake of protests there.
Activists from the anti-raids of groups said today that residents inside Driscoll House had been told that a removal was happening, but the protesters said they will remain outside the hostel until they know it has been cancelled.
“We’ve had a presence here since about six o’clock this morning because we were aware that they are moving the residents earlier and earlier in an attempt to try to reduce the amount of resistance they’re gonna get,” the Guardian was told by an activist from Southwark and Lambeth Anti Raids. “The police showed up then and we believe they prevaricated about whether people would be moved, before about eight cop vans came back.”
Once again a reminder of the challenges facing the Rwanda deportation plans. Activists & locals scrambled this morning to block what they believed would be an attempted removal pic.twitter.com/ukJJnxnGNO
At least one van from the Metropolitan police’s Territorial Support Group, which includes officers who police demonstrations and marches, remained in the area hours later. A banner saying “Homes not Borders” was hunt up outside the hostel, where activists were drawing up rotas of those who will remain at the site.
Here is a video clip of Keir Starmer’s announcement this morning about Labour’s proposed immigration policy. He said Labour would scrap the Rwanda deportation scheme and replace it with a new specialised border security unit if it won power.
Starmer says Labour government would scrap Rwanda deportation scheme – video
Scottish Labour appears to have benefited from the Scottish National party’s leadership turmoil, with a new poll putting Labour four points ahead in a Westminster vote.
The Savanta poll, published today by the Scotsman, will puncture the SNP’s buoyant mood after it managed to replace Humza Yousaf seamlessly with John Swinney this week after Yousaf’s crisis with the Scottish Greens.
The fieldwork for the poll was carried out from 3 to 8 May, after Swinney emerged as the clear frontrunner and his only serious rival, Kate Forbes, stepped aside. SNP officials believe his appointment will arrest the party’s steady decline in the polls.
The first to be released after Swinney’s confirmation as first minister, Savanta puts Scottish Labour on 37% and the SNP on 33%, with the Scottish Conservatives trailing on 17%.
Savanta calculates that would hand Labour 28 Scottish seats – a dramatic improvement after winning just one at the last election, and see the SNP’s fall heavily from 43 to 18 seats.
A Labour gain from the Conservatives, Mary Hume won in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, on first preference votes with a 20-point lead over the SNP.
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, said: “Scotland is being let down by chaotic and dysfunctional SNP and Tory governments. After years of division and decline, Scotland needs change – and Scottish Labour is ready to deliver it.”
PA Media has spoken to first minister of Wales, Vaughan Gething, who says he asked Tata to delay closing the blast furnaces at Port Talbot and to wait until a Labour government is in place in Westminster before making a final decision. He said:
I made clear [to Tata] the case that the Welsh government’s prime position is we don’t want to see the final blast furnace turned off with the significant numbers of job losses that will entail.
I spoke to Keir Starmer before I came out, and the person who is the likely next prime minister made clear that he sees a manifesto offer that we’ll need more steel not less.
And just as I do, he does not want there to be an irreversible choice made just before a general election, that is only months away.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan has told the Times that parents working from home have contributed to a rise in students missing school days.
Keegan, the fifth different Tory education secretary since September 2021, told the paper “The Covid pandemic has had a major impact on school attendance” and that “still too many children whose attendance hasn’t recovered.”
“Every day a child is absent they will miss on average five to six lessons, time they never get back. It is unacceptable to take a deliberate decision to take your child out of school,” she said, adding:
There are still major challenges with data showing unauthorised holiday absence increasing by 25% and that there are regularly 50,000 more pupil absences on a Friday compared with Monday, which could be linked with many parents working from home.
The Times quotes Beth Prescott, a researcher at the Centre for Social Justice, saying “The main drivers of the school attendance crisis is mental health and anxiety in children. Despite the education secretary saying absence is a top priority, the actual response has not reflected that at all.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), told PA Media “it is misleading to suggest that current rates of absence can simply be explained by parents allowing time off school on a whim. The issues we are seeing are the result of not just the pandemic, but a decade of Government austerity in which support for families has effectively been rationed.”
Rishi Sunak has tried to reiterate his “pragmatic” approach to net zero targets during a visit to Oxfordshire.
He said he had received a lot of “flak” for his environmental policies, but said “I’m not going to force you to spend £5,000, £10,000, £15,000 prematurely ripping out stuff, changing things, changing cars and boilers. Instead, we’ll get there in a more pragmatic way. That will be my approach to companies as well.”
Earlier this week the Guardian reported that a large number of climate scientist now believe the world is heading to global temperatures that reach at least 2.5C above preindustrial levels.
Sunak on economy: 'things are starting to feel better'
The prime minister has said “things are starting to feel better” after the latest GDP figures indicated a meagre growth in the economy of 0.6%. It meant the country exited recession.
While visiting a business in Oxfordshire alongside chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Rishi Sunak said:
After undoubtedly a difficult couple of years that the country has had, actually now things are starting to feel better. Confidence is returning to the economy and the country, and I hope that you’re starting to feel that too.
Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt during a visit to a business in Oxfordshire, 10 May. Photograph: Jacob King/AP
Our economics editor Larry Elliott offers this analysis of the latest GDP figures:
When you are in as deep a political hole as the current government you seize on any good news and there was plenty for Jeremy Hunt to choose from in the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. The figures were proof that the economy was returning to “full health for the first time since the pandemic”, the chancellor said.
Yet when people look back on the early months of 2024 they will probably remember the relentlessly awful weather rather than a time when the economy was cooking with gas. Boom-boom Britain it certainly isn’t.
Britain’s growth performance during the current parliament has been extremely weak. National output as measured by gross domestic product is only 1.7% above pre-pandemic levels and adjusted for a rising population per capita, growth has actually fallen – by 1.2%. As things stand, this is on course to be the first parliament in living memory to have seen falling living standards over the term.
Keir Starmer has been asked about whether providing “safe and legal” routes is part of the plan. He cites schemes for people from Hong Kong and Afghanistan, then continues on to say:
The really most effective way to stop the crossings is to break gangs that are running this in the first place because they are making a huge amount of money exploiting very vulnerable people. And they’re doing that with thinking that they’ve got impunity.
He criticises the government for claiming that international courts are preventing them from deporting people. He says:
I think it’s a mistake to think that it’s the international instruments such as the European convention on human rights that are the problem. By the end of this year, there’ll be 100,000 people who’ve arrived whose claims can’t be processed. That means they can’t be returned. That’s not the European Convention that says that. That’s just the government’s not processing the claim.
He says “Why are people who come here from Bangladesh not being processed? Sitting here, not going back? The government isn’t doing it. This is not difficult territory. It’s actually, get on, roll your sleeves up, process the claims, and get this system functioning properly. We shouldn’t overestimate and talk up the difficulty here. It’s basic competence. Seriousness, not gimmicks.”
Starmer: Labour should be 'less tribal' and 'carry as many people with us as possible'
Keir Starmer has said Labour should be “less tribal” in inviting people into the party who want to undertake the serious work he says needs to be done to renew the country.
He says:
If we’re to renew our country, we do need to ensure that we carry as many people with us as possible. And I genuinely think most reasonably-minded people, who may not be into politics all the time … [want] a better country, for their family for their community, and they want the country to go forward.
I want a decade of national renewal where people say, I may not have always voted Labour, but I actually think this is a good serious proposition about improving outcomes.
He said “I’m very pleased to welcome Natalie [Elphicke] to the Labour party. It’s a very difficult thing to cross the floor of the House of Commons from one party to another. Nobody just does it without a huge amount of thought.”
He says his “changed Labour party ought to be a place where reasonably-minded people, whichever way they voted in the past, feel that they can join with our projects and change the country for the better. It is an invitation that we should be less tribal, in the pursuit to invite people to our party who want to join in our project of national renewal. And I’m very pleased to be able to extend that invitation not just to Labour voters, but people who voted for other parties in the past”
Keir Starmer has launched an attack on the culture war debate that surrounds immigration, and says the character of politics in Westminster has to change.
“I dragged my party away from the allure of gesture politics, and I will do exactly the same to Westminster,” he says, having outlined that he believes the current culture in Westminster “rewards the grand gesture, the big talk, while disregarding that detailed practical action that over time, moves a nation forward step by step.”
He accuses the Tories of saying they want to reform the asylum system when some of them are acting in bad faith, and simply want to shut it down entirely.
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