Monday Summary
Here’s a summary the day’s major developments in UK politics.
The House of Lords voted 214-171 to delay prime minister Rishi Sunak’s flagship UK-Rwanda immigration treaty over safety concerns, with the major setback likely to enrage right-wing Conservatives and put Sunak’s administration on the back foot again.
Labour frontbencher Lord Vernon Coaker attacked Sunak for ‘lecturing’ the Lords, saying peers are doing their ‘proper constitutional role’ to analyse the Rwanda treaty.
Liberal Democrat Lord Tim Razzell said the policy’s irony was that the deterrence intended by offshoring to ‘hell hole’ Rwanda is now stopping the scheme being viable.
But home officer minister, Conservative Baron Andrew Sharpe, replied this interpretation was ‘offensive,’ as he unsuccessfully urged Lords to back to bill to ‘stop the boats as soon as possible.’
After the vote, right-wing figures attacked the move. Nigel Farage weighed in, provocatively saying “We must sack all current members of the House of Lords.” It was unclear what constitutional mechanism he was referring to when claiming the lawmakers must be “sacked.
Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has described the government’s free childcare plan as being in “tatters,” after reports that staffing and IT problems were hampering the rollout.
Sunak spoke to US president Joe Biden, discussing the military and humanitarian situations in Gaza, the Red Sea and Ukraine after US-UK airstrikes in recent weeks.
The train drivers’ union Aslef will stand down its five days of additional strikes at LNER, after the state-owned operator withdrew plans to impose minimum service levels during next week’s industrial action.
Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf has asked to speak to Labour leader Keir Starmer about Westminster-Holyrood relations if Labour is to form a government.
Meanwhile, Starmer is keen to show he’s not up for ducking a fight from the Conservatives, in response to critics that he has run away from key battles so far, as his electoral strategy continues to evolve.
That’s all from me, Jem Bartholomew in London, and from the UK politics blog for today. Thanks for following the Guardian’s live coverage. See you next time.
Right-wingers attack Lords after delay to Rwanda scheme over safety concerns
After the UK’s upper lawmaking chamber voted 214-171 to delay the passing of a UK-Rwanda treaty to provide offshore immigration detention – to provide further time for scrutinising safety concerns – right-wing politicians were quick to attack the House of Lords.
The hard-right, anti-immigration Nigel Farage, an ever-present worry over the right-shoulder of Conservative leaders, said provocatively on X/Twitter: “We must sack all current members of the House of Lords. It is beyond parody.” It was unclear what constitutional mechanism he was referring to when claiming the lawmakers must be “sacked.”
Meanwhile, the UK Independence Party, which former-leader Farage left in 2018, said on X/Twitter: “ABOLISH THE HOUSE OF LORDS!”
The comments are a taste of what prime minister Rishi Sunak can expect from backbenchers and other right-wing campaigners, who are urging him to begin sending asylum seekers to Rwanda – and seem prepared to topple him as leader if he can’t.
Updated
