Lords Rwanda rebels ‘on side of smugglers’
Downing Street criticises broadcaster’s support for climate demonstrations outside politicians’ homes
DELAYING Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill only benefits people smugglers, James Cleverly has warned as the Government suffered a series of defeats in the Lords over the plans.
The Home Secretary told The Telegraph that opponents in the Lords and within Labour were trying to take away tools that would deter migrants from making life-threatening journeys and break the business model of the smuggling gangs without coming up with an alternative that would work.
“I refuse to just sit and watch while people are dying in the Mediterranean or dying in the Channel and whilst evil people are making money. I flatly refuse to be passive on this,” he said.
Mr Cleverly said he would look closely at the amendments backed by the Lords but would reject any that
“wrecked” or watered down the legislation, saying the Bill had been carefully drawn to be “robust and effective” but remain within the bounds of international law. “We want to make sure that it works but I’m also going to make sure that wrecking amendments which are designed to destroy the Bill are not entertained,” said Mr Cleverly.
His comments came during his first meeting with the “Calais group” of countries in Brussels to agree a new customs partnership to share border intelligence and intercept the funds, boats and equipment of the peoplesmuggling gangs.
It coincided with damaging defeats that threatened to delay Mr Sunak’s pledge to get deportation flights off the ground. In a series of votes, peers backed five amendments that declared Rwanda not a safe country and required tougher legal safeguards. Following this
CHRIS PACKHAM has been criticised as “irresponsible” by Downing Street for defending protests outside the homes of MPS.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman rebuked the broadcaster for siding with Just Stop Oil, which pledged yesterday to continue peacefully to target politicians at their private addresses.
Just Stop Oil supporters gathered outside the homes of both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer in 2023 to oppose their energy policies, and the home of Tobias Ellwood, a Tory MP, was targeted by pro-palestinian protesters in February.
The group has said it plans to continue “standing outside the homes and offices of MPS” despite the Prime Minister warning against the rise of “mob rule” in Britain.
Packham, who has said he “selectively” supports Just Stop Oil, told Times Radio: “I think that we need a portfolio of protests, basically, because we need a radical flank and Just Stop Oil [is] seen by many as that radical flank.
“They are the people who in some people’s minds go a step too far.
“And that might be, you know, standing outside an MP’S house.
“But the fact is that they are motivated, as I am, by a manifest fear for the health of our future.
“If this is a peaceful, non-violent demonstration, then we in the UK – for all the laws that have been radically changed in very recent times – have to preserve that right to protest.
“We’ve got a law out there, it needs to be applied equally to everyone.”
Asked about Packham’s comments, Mr Sunak’s spokesman told reporters: “It is clearly irresponsible to encourage people to protest at the home addresses of MPS. [This] is exactly why the Defending Democracy Policing Protocol agreed last week that any protests outside addresses of MPS will be considered intimidatory.”
Mr Sunak last week warned police chiefs that “mob rule is replacing democratic rule” and called on police to shut down “intimidatory” demonstrations against MPS amid rising fears for their safety prompted by the Gaza conflict.
In an address to the nation on Friday that warned “democracy itself is a target”, Mr Sunak said: “Council meetings and local events have been stormed. MPS do not feel safe in their homes.
“Long-standing Parliamentary conventions have been upended because of safety concerns.”
He added later: “The time has now come for us all to stand together to combat the forces of division and beat this poison.”
The Criminal Justice Act already allows police to direct protesters away from a residential dwelling to prevent alarm, distress or harassment.
Just Stop Oil was criticised in February after Sarah Lunnon, one of its co-founders, wrote a piece in The Guardian that called for Labour MPS to face climate protests “at their officers, in their constituencies and at their homes”.
Mr Packham is a long-standing campaigner against countryside pursuits, including hunting and shooting.
He has been an ardent critic of the Government’s environment policies and has filed a legal challenge against Mr Sunak’s decision to delay or dilute a number of flagship net zero targets, which he claimed was being pursued “on a reckless whim for political gain”.
Yesterday, Leigh Day, the law firm representing Packham, released a statement confirming Mr Justice Eyre had given permission for the challenge to be heard in court.
Packham has said of Mr Sunak’s net zero rollback: “We are in a crisis which threatens the whole world… We have the potential to reduce that threat, we have the solutions and we have plans and targets. We must not divert from these.”