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A summary of today's developments
The immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, has quit, just hours after the prime minister tabled a bill to save the Rwanda deportation policy. He stood down after the legislation did not allow ministers to override international laws which have stopped the government from sending asylum seekers to central Africa. Jenrick, who was appointed in October 2022, said the emergency legislation introduced to revive the Rwanda policy had “moved towards my position” but the Bill was “a triumph of hope over experience”. Rishi Sunak has described Jenrick’s resignation as “disappointing”, telling him in a letter he fears it was “based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation”.
The government earlier published emergency legislation aimed at shoring up its Rwanda asylum policy after it was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court last month. The home secretary, James Cleverly, told the Commons the legislation will prevent further legal challenges to deportation flights but Jenrick said in his resignation letter the draft law “does not go far enough”.
The Rwandan government has in effect confirmed what Rishi Sunak told Tory MPs about it being responsible for blocking a bill that would have disapplied the European convention on human rights. Vincent Biruta, the Rwandan foreign affairs minister, released a statement saying its deportation deal with the UK must meet “the highest standards of international law”.
During his evidence to the Covid inquiry, Boris Johnson said it is “nonsense” to claim he kept Matt Hancock as health secretary so he could be a sacrifice for the inquiry. Johnson also told the inquiry in London he is “deeply sorry” about the pain and suffering experienced during the pandemic.
Johnson insisted he does not recall being told in a Cobra meeting conclusion from 26 February 2020 that mass deaths were increasingly likely. He also admitted regrets for previously saying that long Covid was “bollocks” and “Gulf War syndrome stuff”.
