Closing summary
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage appears to have rowed back on his recent pledge to stop migrants arriving on small boats within two weeks of entering government if his party wins power, admitting it could take months for the appropriate legislation to go through parliament.
The new home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is looking to reform the European convention on human rights (ECHR) in a bid to stave off advances from Nigel Farage’s Reform party, according to reports.
The government is also reportedly close to agreeing a “one in, one out” returns deal with Germany, having already sealed one with France over the summer.
The defence secretary, John Healey, confirmed reports that the government is “looking at the potential use of military and non-military use sites for temporary accommodation” for asylum seekers as an alternative to hotels.
Healey said the under pressure prime minister, Keir Starmer, is “going up a gear” after his extensive cabinet reshuffle triggered by Angela Rayner resigning after breaching the ministerial code over her tax arrangements.
Reform UK’s head of policy Zia Yusuf said Boris Johnson would never be welcome in his party, adding that the former Conservative leader was one of the worst prime ministers in British history and accused him of betraying Brexit voters.
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Boris Johnson was one of the worst prime ministers in British history, Zia Yusuf says
Nadine Dorries, a former Conservative culture secretary and close Boris Johnson ally, has recently joined Reform UK, claiming that the Tory party is “dead”.
She is the latest in a number of defections from the Conservative party to Reform, including ex- Welsh secretary David Jones and ex-Tory chair Jake Berry.
Dorries was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying that former prime minister Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage “must unite to crush Labour”.
Farage, Reform UK’s leader, has said he has a good personal relationship with Johnson, but said the former prime minister joining Reform is not feasible as he presided over high levels of immigration while in office.
Speaking on Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme Reform UK’s head of policy Zia Yusuf made his views clear.
“We certainly would not welcome Boris Johnson – that’s never going to happen,” Yusuf said.
“He threw open our borders. The Boris wave, which is millions and millions of non-EU migrants flooding into the country post-Brexit, betrayed every single person that voted Brexit. Frankly he was one of the worst prime ministers in British history.”
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