UK plans to send thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda, says Boris Johnson – as it happened

5.45pm BST

Afternoon summary

• Tens of thousands of unauthorised migrants who seek sanctuary in the UK will be flown more than 4,000 miles to Rwanda under a new set of immigration policies, Boris Johnson has said.

• Johnson has dodged fresh questions over the future of his leadership after being given fixed-penalty notices by police for breaking Covid laws, as a former minister suggested he should consider his position.

• Imran Ahmad Khan, the MP expelled from the Conservative party after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy, has announced he will resign, meaning a byelection will be triggered in his Wakefield constituency.

• Coronavirus infections have fallen slightly in most of the UK, figures from the Office for National Statistics show, although experts analysing the data say it is too soon to tell whether infections have passed their peak.

Updated at 6.14pm BST

5.44pm BST

These are from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.

Today, this government has made it clear that by ‘offshoring asylum processing’ they mean deporting people who've sought safety here on a one-way ticket to Rwanda.

Those whose claims are accepted will be recognised as refugees in Rwanda, 4000 miles from the UK..
1/3 pic.twitter.com/EczVK7vfis

— JCWI (@JCWI_UK) April 14, 2022

These plans will endanger the lives of people who've fled harm & do nothing to stop trecherous journeys across the channel.

Instead, they will create new smuggling routes for vulnerable people desperate to leave Rwanda. 2/3

— JCWI (@JCWI_UK) April 14, 2022

To stop these unspeakably cruel plans, the Gov must scrap the Nationality & Borders Bill and create fast, fair and compassionate asylum processes that help people build new lives here.

You can join us in making these demands heard - info below👇 3/3https://t.co/qJ0zdF9RZs

— JCWI (@JCWI_UK) April 14, 2022