The Rwanda fallout has started. Rishi Sunak is trying his best to put a positive spin on the judgment, pointing out that “the principle of removing asylum seekers to a third country is lawful”.
He is scraping the barrel. It’s a rhetorical trick that is unlikely to convince his opponents, with backbenchers now seething over the Supreme Court ruling today.
No planes will be taking off to Rwanda and the failure is as much symbolic as anything else.
As we explained in a previous post, this plan was meant to be the “visual antidote” to images of people arriving on British shores on small boats.
Mr Sunak is fighting on two fronts. He is batting off questions from his backbenches and attacks from Labour but he is talking tough, insisting that the government had already started work on a new treaty to address the challenges that blocked the plan in the courts.
It’s a rebuke to Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, who accused him of having no “Plan B” if the policy failed in the courts today.
Mr Sunak went a step further, saying that he was prepared to “change our laws and revisit international frameworks”.
It’s a message to those on the backbenches, the right-wingers coalescing around the “common sense” group who want to bulldoze through the European Convention on Human Rights and other treaties that are blocking the plan.
We can expect more on this from James Cleverly, the new home secretary, shortly.
Tory MP presses Sunak on tax cuts
The prime minister may well be celebrating that inflation is down this morning, but a hot topic for Tory MPs is whether taxes on working people will also come down.
Tory MP Greg Smith tells him that the tax burden continues to “bite” as workers such as police, nurses and teachers are dragged into higher thresholds.
He asks whether the prime minister believes that “fairness” should be restored to the tax system, to which Mr Sunak replies that he does share the same ambition.
Mr Sunak appears braced for the multiple calls for tax cuts that are likely to greet him during next week’s autumn statement.
More questions over Lord Cameron’s history with Greensill
Labour MP Nick Smith asks the prime minister about Lord David Cameron’s links with Lex Greensill and his failed company Greensill Capital.
He points out criminal investigations in German, Switzerland and the UK are taking place into the company.
Mr Smith also points out Lord Cameron sent 62 messages to government ministers during the pandemic, lobbying on behalf of Mr Greensill – and a report that said the foreign secretary showed a “significant lack of judgement”.
Mr Sunak’s response repeats what he has said before – that Lord Cameron has been vetted, and the UK will be “well represented” abroad by the former prime minister.
He then attacks Labour for having David Lammy as shadow foreign secretary – highlighting his previous support for Jeremy Corbyn and voting against Trident.
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