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Controversial new Labour MP joins party leader in her constituency as he delivers major speech on immigrationThe Post Office Horizon IT inquiry is about to get under way again. Sir Wyn Williams is in the chair, and the witness is Rod Ismay, former head of product and branch accounting at Post Office limited. You can watch it here.James Cleverly has posted to social media...

Shadow health secretary says party will not accept just any MP after Natalie Elphicke’s move to Labour• UK politics live – latest updatesLabour’s Wes Streeting has said he has spoken to more Conservative MPs considering a defection to the opposition, similar to that of Natalie Elphicke, but insisted the party would not accept just any politician.The shadow health secretary said Elphicke, who is due...

Hunters reportedly find five Rwandan men in mangroves on Saibai Island, a known crocodile habitatAs the UK government continues its push to forcibly remove asylum seekers to Rwanda, a group of Rwandan nationals has claimed asylum in Australia after arriving by boat on a remote island.The five men arrived in Australia by an unconventional route, reportedly flying into the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, to be...

Mohammad Ganjkhanlou cannot take his bike onboard and says he ‘will not have the chance to rebuild’ his racing careerA gold medal-winning elite cyclist who is seeking asylum in the UK fears his career will be derailed because he has been told by the Home Office he must move to the Bibby Stockholm barge and cannot take his bike on board.Mohammad Ganjkhanlou, 26, an...

About 52,000 people are eligible under the scheme, but a government spokesperson said Kigali would accept ‘thousands’Rwanda has admitted it cannot guarantee how many people it will take from the UK under Rishi Sunak’s deportation scheme.The east African country did not give assurances that the estimated 52,000 asylum seekers in the UK who are eligible to be sent to Kigali would be accepted, instead...

Glossy promotional leaflet handed out to asylum seekers detained under Rishi Sunak’s deportation policyAsylum seekers who have been detained under Rishi Sunak’s deportation policy are being handed a colourful promotional document entitled: “I’m being relocated to Rwanda. What does it mean to me?”The news came as the government faced a second legal challenge over the prime minister’s £500m policy and it emerged that dozens...

Dozens of demonstrators in Peckham surround coach before it can take people to barge in DorsetA coach sent to collect asylum seekers and take them to the Bibby Stockholm barge has been surrounded by protesters in south London.Dozens of demonstrators in Peckham have blocked a coach before it was able to pick up passengers by surrounding it on all sides. Continue reading...

Ahmed Alhashimi’s seven-year-old daughter Sara was crushed to death after group of men rushed on to dinghyThe father of a seven-year-old girl crushed to death on a small boat has said they tried to cross the Channel after being informed his young family would be deported to Iraq after spending years in Europe.Ahmed Alhashimi, 41, lost grasp of his daughter, Sara, on an inflatable...

Refugee Council sounds warning after children wrongly issued with notices of intent by Home OfficeUK politics – latest updatesLone child asylum seekers are at risk of being sent to Rwanda because the Home Office has wrongly classified some as adults, it has been claimed.The Refugee Council, which works with these children, has warned of the risk after more than a dozen of the children...

Shocked people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria herded on to coaches as 200 tents removed and streets cleanedThe convoy arrived just after sunrise: a stream of police vehicles, council trucks, mounted cranes and coaches, ready to dismantle a tent city of migrants and refugees in the heart of Dublin that had become too big, too visible, too political.They fenced off streets and herded shocked, sleepy...

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza says her banning shows Rwandan government does not adhere to international lawA Rwandan opposition leader who has been banned from standing for election has cast doubt on whether her government will stick to the terms of the deportation deal agreed with Rishi Sunak.Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza told the Guardian that the Rwandan government’s refusal to allow her to stand or leave the...

Minister says ‘officers are used to this’, as figures suggest Home Office is in contact with only 38% of people it wants to removeThe Home Office is “used to” losing contact with asylum seekers, a UK government minister has said, after official figures suggested thousands of people it hoped to deport to Rwanda had stopped reporting.The impact assessment on the Home Office’s website on...

Taoiseach wants to reduce arrivals through Northern Ireland amid concern that Sunak’s Rwanda plan is driving people to IrelandIreland plans to return asylum seekers to the UK under new emergency laws, in an effort to stem arrivals through Northern Ireland.The taoiseach, Simon Harris, wants the proposals brought to cabinet next week amid concern that Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan was rerouting asylum seekers from the...

UK PM points to Irish deputy PM’s claim that threat of being deported led people to cross border from Northern IrelandAn increase in asylum seekers heading to Ireland proves that the Conservative party’s Rwanda plan is working, Rishi Sunak has claimed.In an interview with Sky News’ Trevor Phillips that will air on Sunday morning, the prime minister said the “deterrent is already having an...

Chris Philp gets confused over neighbouring countries when discussing government’s Rwanda deportation policyUK politics – latest updatesThe policing minister, Chris Philp, appeared to confuse the countries of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on BBC Question Time on Thursday.When discussing the government policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, the MP for Croydon South responded to an audience member’s question during the...

Micheál Martin says UK asylum seekers fearful of being removed to Rwanda are seeking sanctuary in IrelandThe UK government’s Rwanda policy has been described as a “kneejerk reaction” to migration by Ireland’s deputy prime minister, who said an influx of asylum seekers could arrive in Ireland as a result.Micheál Martin, Ireland’s Tánaiste, reportedly said asylum seekers fearful of being removed from the UK to...

Exclusive: Action by organisation supporting migrants argues new rules are discriminatoryAn organisation that supports migrant workers has launched a legal challenge against the government’s new policy to bar care workers from bringing children and partners to the UK, warning that it is “tearing families apart”.According to Migrants at Work, care workers have to choose between family life with their children and partners or getting...

Home secretary visits Lampedusa in Italy as National Audit Office says scheme could surpass £580m by 2030Several flights a month will deport asylum seekers to Rwanda “indefinitely”, the home secretary has said, as he argued that the £1.8m a person cost of the scheme was justified.James Cleverly, in his first interview since the government’s plan was approved by parliament on Monday, said he had...

Attempt to cross via overcrowded dinghy from Wimereux aborted after engine stalls and five people drownThey could have been on a school trip. Fifty teenagers from Vietnam, dressed for the biting cold in puffer jackets, smart trainers and woolly beanies, sat on the pavement by the bus shelter outside Gare Calais listening to music and watching videos on their smartphones.They were waiting for the...

International concern over new law increases as UN high commissioner for refugees says it marks ‘step away from UK’s tradition of providing refuge’Three men, a woman and a child were killed attempting to cross the Channel in the early hours of this morning, according to a French coastguard statement.Enver Solomon, the Refugee Council’s chief executive, said this was “another devastating human tragedy” that should...

French coastguard says small boat was carrying more than 100 people during failed crossing attemptFive people have died in an attempt to cross the Channel near the town of Wimereux, south of Calais, French police have said.A spokesperson for France’s national police told Reuters that five asylum seekers had died, while the French coastguard confirmed there was a failed attempt to cross the Channel...

Commissioner expresses grave concern after Rishi Sunak’s asylum policy passes parliamentary stagesThe Council of Europe’s human rights watchdog has condemned Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda scheme, saying it raises “major issues about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law”.The body’s human rights commissioner, Michael O’Flaherty, said the bill, expected to be signed into law on Tuesday after passing its parliamentary stages on...

In today’s newsletter: After months of wrangling, Parliament passed the government’s controversial plan to tackle small boats• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition Continue reading...

Lawyers prepare for legal battles on behalf of individual asylum seekers challenging removal to east AfricaHow the UK government’s Rwanda deportation plan was fought in courtRishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill will become law after peers eventually backed down on amending it, opening the way for legal battles over the potential removal of dozens of people seeking asylum.After a marathon battle of “ping pong” over...