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Sunak warns of “toxic” politics 

The row follows an article by former home secretary Suella Braverman over the weekend that claimed Islamists and extremists were taking charge in all walks of life in Britain, attacked as “extreme rhetoric” by the Opposition parties…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has warned against a growing toxic culture in politics amid reports of members of Parliament facing security threats over their voting intentions in the House of Commons related to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

The 43-year-old British Indian leader issued a statement on Saturday to condemn the hijacking of protests on the streets of the country by extremists to glorify terrorism. It came as a report in ‘The Sunday Times’ newspaper claims that three unnamed female MPs have been sanctioned additional security after concerns about their safety.

“The explosion in prejudice and antisemitism since the Hamas attacks on the 7 October [2023] are as unacceptable as they are un-British. Simply put antisemitism is racism,” said Sunak in his statement.

“Legitimate protests hijacked by extremists to promote and glorify terrorism, elected representatives verbally threatened and physically, violently targeted and antisemitic tropes beamed onto our own Parliament building,” he said, with reference to an offensive projection on the Palace of Westminster recently.

“And in Parliament this week a very dangerous signal was sent that this sort of intimidation works. It is toxic for our society and our politics and is an affront to the liberties and values we hold dear here in Britain,” he said of the scenes of chaos in the Commons last week over a Gaza ceasefire vote.

While he did not make a reference to it specifically, his intervention came soon after the governing Conservatives suspended party MP Lee Anderson after he claimed during an interview that Pakistani-origin London Mayor Sadiq Khan was under the control of “Islamists”.

The Opposition had demanded action over the remarks, which Labour Leader Keir Starmer branded as a “racist and Islamophobic outburst”. “This isn’t just embarrassing for the Conservative Party, it emboldens the worst forces in our politics,” said Starmer.

The row follows an article by former home secretary Suella Braverman over the weekend that claimed Islamists and extremists were taking charge in all walks of life in Britain, attacked as “extreme rhetoric” by the Opposition parties.

Braverman, sacked from the Cabinet by Sunak last year, was reacting to Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle saying that he had selected certain amendments to a motion related to ceasefire in Gaza in a bid to ensure all options were on the table for MPs to vote on and to protect MPs’ safety.

According to ‘The Sunday Times’ report, UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat has been working with the Home Office, the police and the parliamentary authorities to significantly enhance the safety and security of MPs. As part of the overhaul, the royal and VIP executive committee (RAVEC), which is responsible for the security of the royal family as well as senior politicians including the prime minister and home secretary, has been brought in to help assess the threat to MPs.

“Many MPs are petrified by the abuse they are facing,” a senior security source was quoted as saying.

It is understood that the female MPs requiring additional security have been provided with close protection by private companies, along with chauffeur-driven cars, which are normally provided only to senior members of the Cabinet and the Leader of the Opposition.

ALSO READ-Sajid slams Sunak

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Sajid slams Sunak

Over the weekend, senior party figures failed to fully condemn Anderson despite his suspension, including Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden and Defense Secretary Grant Shapps…reports Asian Lite News

London’s mayor has accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of “tacit endorsement” of Islamophobia in his Conservative Party.

Sadiq Khan’s accusation came after the “belated” suspension of Conservative MP Lee Anderson, who refused to apologize for saying in a TV interview that “Islamists” had “got control” of the mayor.

“I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London,” Anderson told GB News. “He’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.”

Khan said Muslims are considered “fair game” for prejudice by the Conservatives.

It comes amid a series of scandals for the governing party after its former leader Liz Truss attended a major conservative conference in the US where she appeared on a panel at which British far-right figure Tommy Robinson was praised, and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman penned an article for the Daily Telegraph suggesting “Islamists” are “in charge” of the UK.

Over the weekend, senior party figures failed to fully condemn Anderson despite his suspension, including Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden and Defense Secretary Grant Shapps.

Khan said: “Blatant anti-Muslim hatred is being tolerated from top to bottom of the party, with everyone from ministers to mayoral candidates failing to condemn even the most clear-cut examples of bigotry and racism.”

He added: “Anderson’s comments have poured petrol on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred … The message it sends is some forms of hatred and racism are acceptable. Enough is enough.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Sunak has “extremists” in his party acting “with impunity.” Labour Chair Anneliese Dodds said in a letter to her Conservative counterpart Richard Holden that Anderson’s comments are “unambiguously Islamophobic, divisive and damaging.”

She cited other incidents of Islamophobia in the governing part, including London mayoral candidate Susan Hall’s suggestion that Jewish Londoners were “frightened” of Khan’s “divisive attitude” in October, and Conservative MP Nus Ghani saying she was told her “Muslimness” made “colleagues uncomfortable” by an unnamed party official in 2020.

Truss, meanwhile, has been criticized by former Chancellor Sir Sajid Javid for failing to address comments made by US conservative figure Steve Bannon at the Conservative Political Action Conference in which he called Robinson a “hero.”

ALSO READ-Indian delegation to visit London to resolve FTA issues

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Free world united with Ukraine, says Sunak

The latest funding of £8.5 million is part of £357 million of humanitarian assistance the UK has committed since the start of the conflict in February 2022…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak marked the second anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on Saturday with a pledge to renew the UK’s determination to support the Ukrainians and declared the free world united in its response to President Vladimir Putin’s “illegal invasion” of Ukraine.

The leader reflected upon his recent visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv when he announced a major package of defence aid to Ukraine, taking the UK’s total support to £12 billion. It comes as the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) pledged £8.5 million in humanitarian funding allocations to the Red Cross Movement and the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund.

“When Putin launched his illegal invasion two years ago, the free world was united in its response. We stood together behind Ukraine. And on this grim anniversary, we must renew our determination,” said Sunak in a statement from 10 Downing Street.

“I was in Kyiv just a few weeks ago and I met wounded Ukrainian soldiers. Each harrowing story was a reminder of Ukraine’s courage in the face of terrible suffering. It was a reminder of the price they are paying not only to defend their country against a completely unjustified invasion, but also to defend the very principles of freedom, sovereignty and the rule of law, on which we all depend,” he said.

He added: “The UK is going further in our support. I announced last month the biggest single package of defence aid to Ukraine, taking our total support to £12 billion and signed a ten-year agreement on security cooperation – the first of its kind. This is the moment to show that tyranny will never triumph and to say once again that we will stand with Ukraine today and tomorrow. We are prepared to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, until they prevail.” According to the FCDO, over 14.6 million people – about 40 per cent of the Ukrainian population – is in need of humanitarian assistance. Millions have been left homeless, struggle without adequate access to water, food and electricity, and desperately need health, protection and other essential services and supplies in “territories under Russian occupation”.

“Ukrainians are bravely defending their land against Russia’s brutal invasion, but the past two years of war have had a tragic impact on millions of people across Ukraine. Families have been separated, towns and villages decimated, and vital civilian infrastructure destroyed. The UK stands with Ukraine, and is committed to supporting the most vulnerable Ukrainians living through the horrors of this war,” said UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

The announcement follows Cameron’s visit to the United Nations on Friday, where he addressed the United Nations Security Council and United Nations General Assembly and reinforced the UK’s commitment to supporting Ukraine.

Over £6 million of the UK funding will support the Red Cross Movement’s neutral and impartial work, reinforcing their existing emergency response projects and their support to the most vulnerable in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, £2.5 million will fund the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, part of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The UK said its funding supports ongoing emergency responses, preparedness activities and last-mile aid delivery in frontline areas where local communities have been most affected by recent attacks.

The latest funding is part of £357 million of humanitarian assistance the UK has committed since the start of the conflict in February 2022. The UK said its support contributes to an international response that reached 11 million people in Ukraine in 2023 and 15.8 million in 2022.

‘West should be bolder’

Western nations should be bolder about confiscating Russian assets which they froze after the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.

Sunak, in an article in an early edition of the Sunday Times to mark two years since the start of the conflict, said Ukraine continued to need more long-range weapons, drones and munitions, as well as other assistance.

“We must be bolder in hitting the Russian war economy …. And we must be bolder in seizing the hundreds of billions of frozen Russian assets,” he said .

Last month British Investment Minister Dominic Johnson met US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo to discuss the seizure of frozen Russian assets, but stressed this needed to be done in accordance with international law.

The European Union, US, Japan and Canada froze some $300 billion of Russian central bank assets in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Group of Seven countries have been studying a possible seizure of the assets as a way to have Russia pay for the damage its invasion caused in Ukraine.

Sunak also urged the US to continue to provide financial and military support for Ukraine.

“We should never underestimate what America has done for Ukraine and for Euro-Atlantic security. I urge them to continue that support, and I am confident they will,” he wrote in the article.

Britain’s defense ministry announced £245 million ($311 million) of aid to fund Ukrainian artillery ammunition on Saturday.

ALSO READ-Watchdog opens probe over Sunak’s TV appearance

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UK govt bans smartphones in schools

The proliferation of smartphones in schools – Ofcom data says 97% of children have one by the age of 12 – has brought concerns about not just distraction but the potential for bullying or other social pressure…reports Asian Lite News

Ministers have confirmed plans to ban the use of mobile phones in English schools, releasing guidance for headteachers that some unions said included practices that had already been widely adopted.

However, one headteacher welcomed the Department for Education (DfE) plan, saying it would help give schools the confidence to make a change that would benefit pupils but could meet resistance from parents.

The guidance is not statutory, and offers schools a variety of ways to implement the ban, ranging from an order to leave all phones at home, to handing them in on arrival or keeping them in inaccessible lockers, or allowing students to keep them on condition they are not used or heard.

The proliferation of smartphones in schools – Ofcom data says 97% of children have one by the age of 12 – has brought concerns about not just distraction but the potential for bullying or other social pressure.

In interviews on Monday about the plan, Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, said the DfE had consulted headteachers and believed the guidance would “empower” those yet to fully ban phones, and “would send a clear message about consistency”.

“You go to school, you go to learn, you go to create those friendships, you go to speak to people and socialise and you go to get educated – you don’t go to sit on your mobile phone or to send messages whilst you could actually talk to somebody,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

There is also wider concern about phone use by children and the harmful content they can access. Esther Ghey, mother of the murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, has called for tech companies to do more on this, and for under-16s to be stopped from accessing social media.

Ghey has also argued for phone manufacturers to make specific products for under-16s that prevent them from accessing harmful content, after it emerged that her daughter’s killers viewed violent material before the murder.

Keegan told Today that while ministers would discuss the idea with Ghey, “it’s not something that we have actually looked at or considered and those conversations will take place”.

The 13-page DfE guidance says the policy on phones should be clearly communicated to pupils, with the reasons for it also explained. It adds that teachers should not be seen in schools using a phone except when necessary for work.

Parents also needed to be involved in the ban, it says, with a reminder that they should contact students via the school office rather than directly.

ALSO READ-Watchdog opens probe over Sunak’s TV appearance

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Watchdog opens probe over Sunak’s TV appearance

During the broadcast, the show’s presenter said the questions addressed to Sunak were from undecided voters ahead of a general election later this year and had not been seen in advance by Sunak or by the channel…reports Asian Lite News

Independent media watchdog Office of Communications (OFCOM) on Monday opened an investigation into whether impartiality rules were broken during British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s recent television appearance after receiving around 500 complaints from viewers.

OFCOM said its probe covers the ‘People’s Forum: The Prime Minister’ programme which aired on ‘GB News’ last Monday. Under its Broadcasting Code, OFCOM requires a wide range of views to be expressed to ensure impartiality within a political setting.

“We have received around 500 complaints about the programme which aired on ‘GB News’ on 12 February 2024,” an OFCOM statement said.

“We are investigating under Rules 5.11 and 5.12 of the Broadcasting Code, which provides additional due impartiality requirements for programmes dealing with matters of major political controversy and major matters relating to current public policy. Specifically, Rules 5.11 and 5.12 require that an appropriately wide range of significant views must be included and given due weight in such programmes, or in clearly linked and timely programmes,” it said.

During the broadcast, the show’s presenter said the questions addressed to Sunak were from undecided voters ahead of a general election later this year and had not been seen in advance by Sunak or by the channel.

A Downing Street spokesperson said the Prime Minister did not regret taking part in the show and that “this is a matter for OFCOM”.

While the watchdog’s “due impartiality” requirement in current affairs and political output does not require the same amount of time to be given to opposing views, audiences must be exposed to alternative ways of thinking. It has the power to impose fines or other sanctions if a media outlet is found in breach of its Broadcasting Code.

‘GB News’, a right-leaning, relatively new network, is being investigated by OFCOM for other shows as well, including over impartiality issues.

ALSO READ-Sunak paid over £500,000 in tax last year

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Parliamentary watchdog flays Rwanda plan

Scottish National Party lawmaker Joanna Cherry, who chairs the committee, said the bill “risks untold damage to the U.K.’s reputation as a proponent of human rights.”…reports Asian Lite News

The government’s plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda is “fundamentally incompatible” with the U.K.’s human rights obligations, a parliamentary rights watchdog said Monday, as the contentious bill returned for debate in the House of Lords.

Parliament’s unelected upper chamber is scrutinizing — and trying to change — a bill designed to overcome the U.K. Supreme Court’s ruling that the Rwanda plan is illegal. The court said in November that the East African nation is not a safe country for migrants.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill pronounces the country safe, makes it harder for migrants to challenge deportation and allows the British government to ignore injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights that seek to block removals.

Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights, which has members from both government and opposition parties, said in a report that the bill “openly invites the possibility of the U.K. breaching international law” and allows British officials “to act in a manner that is incompatible with human rights standards.”

Scottish National Party lawmaker Joanna Cherry, who chairs the committee, said the bill “risks untold damage to the U.K.’s reputation as a proponent of human rights.”

“This bill is designed to remove vital safeguards against persecution and human rights abuses, including the fundamental right to access a court,” she said. “Hostility to human rights is at its heart and no amendments can salvage it.”

The Home Office said the Rwanda plan is a “bold and innovative” solution to a “major global challenge.”

“Rwanda is clearly a safe country that cares deeply about supporting refugees,” it said in a statement. “It hosts more than 135,000 asylum seekers and stands ready to relocate people and help them rebuild their lives.”

Under the policy, asylum-seekers who reach the U.K. in small boats across the English Channel would have their claims processed in Rwanda, and stay there permanently. The plan is key to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats” bringing unauthorized migrants to the U.K. Sunak argues that deporting unauthorized asylum-seekers will deter people from making risky journeys and break the business model of people-smuggling gangs.

Human rights groups call the plan inhumane and unworkable, and no one has yet been sent to Rwanda.

In response to the Supreme Court ruling, Britain and Rwanda signed a treaty pledging to strengthen protections for migrants. Sunak’s Conservative government argues the treaty allows it to pass a law declaring Rwanda a safe destination.

The bill was approved by the House of Commons last month, though only after 60 members of Sunak’s governing Conservatives rebelled in an effort to make the legislation tougher.

It is now being scrutinized by the Lords, many of whom want to defeat or water down the bill. Unlike the Commons, the governing Conservatives do not hold a majority of seats in the Lords.

The bill will face multiple attempts to amend it and a protracted back-and-forth between the Lords and the elected House of Commons that could foil Sunak’s aim of getting the first flight to Rwanda off the ground this spring. Ultimately, though the upper house can delay and amend legislation but can’t overrule the elected Commons.

ALSO READ-Opposition slams Sunak over £1,000 Rwanda bet

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Sunak paid over £500,000 in tax last year

The three-page published summary is the second time that Sunak has published details of his tax affairs since he became prime minister in 2022…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak paid 508,000 pounds ($641,000) in tax in the last financial year after income from his investments dwarfed his official salary, a report by his accountants showed on Friday.

Sunak is the wealthiest prime minister in British history through a combination of his past career in financial services and the family fortune of his wife, whose father founded the Indian IT services company Infosys.

The three-page published summary is the second time that Sunak has published details of his tax affairs since he became prime minister in 2022.

The figures show that Sunak made 139,000 pounds from his salary as a member of parliament, finance minister and prime minister between April 2022 and March 2023, and 2.1 million pounds from investments.

Of his income from investments, 1.8 million pounds came from capital gains, up from 1.6 million pounds a year earlier.

About 70% of the total tax paid by Sunak was due to capital gains tax on the profit made from sales of investments such as stocks.

Although Sunak does not have an obligation to provide details of his income, he agreed to do so to provide more transparency about his personal finances.

Notes from Evelyn Partners, Sunak’s accountants, said all the prime minister’s investment income and capital gains related to a “single, US-based investment fund”.

Sunak was criticised this week after he made a 1,000 pound bet with the broadcaster Piers Morgan over whether the government would succeed with its plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda before the next general election.

Opposition parties said the wager was distasteful and that Sunak’s ability to make such a large bet on a whim showed he was out of touch with average voters.

ALSO READ-‘Up for the fight to win polls’

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Sunak criticised for gender remark

Starmer, who had welcomed the mother of Brianna Ghey, Esther Ghey, was visibly furious in response. He said the comments were inappropriate, and Sunak later acknowledged Ghey…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced criticism Wednesday after seeking to mock the position of the Labour Party’s leader on the definition of a woman, less than two minutes after lawmakers heard that the mother of a murdered transgender teenager was in Parliament.

In response to a question from Keir Starmer, Sunak listed a series of issues that he said showed the Labour leader making about-turns, ending with a quip about his stance on “defining a woman, although in fairness, that was only 99% of a U-turn.”

His remark was intended to embarrass Starmer, who Sunak’s Conservatives have accused of vacillating on the issue of self-identification, and who have pounced on his comment last year that “99.9% of women haven’t got a penis.”

Starmer, who had welcomed the mother of Brianna Ghey, Esther Ghey, was visibly furious in response. He said the comments were inappropriate, and Sunak later acknowledged Ghey.

“Of all the weeks to say that, when Brianna’s mother is in this chamber. Shame,” Starmer said. “Parading as a man of integrity when he’s got absolutely no responsibility.”

Last Friday, the two 16-year-old convicted murderers of Brianna a year ago were handed life sentences with minimum prison terms of 20 and 22 years.

The horrific murder shocked the nation. Brianna, who was 16, was stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back in broad daylight after being lured to a park in the town of Warrington in northwest England on Feb. 11, 2023.

Brianna’s mother has been widely praised for her dignified response, calling for the families of the convicted pair to be shown some empathy and compassion. In an interview Sunday with the BBC, she said she would be open to meeting the mother of Scarlett Jenkinson, one of Brianna’s two killers who according to the judge in the case was the ringleader.

ALSO READ-Opposition slams Sunak over £1,000 Rwanda bet

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Opposition slams Sunak over £1,000 Rwanda bet

PM rows back on a £1,000 bet with Morgan on whether deportation flights to Rwanda would take off before the general election, saying he was “not a betting person”…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been criticised by opposition parties for a bet over his Rwanda policy. Asked by TalkTV’s Piers Morgan if he would bet £1,000 for a refugee charity that deportation flights would take off before the next election, the PM shook hands with him. Labour said it showed he was “totally out of touch with working people”.

The SNP said it had reported Sunak for a potential breach of ministerial rules over the “grotesque” bet.

The party’s Cabinet Office spokeswoman, Kirsty Blackman, has written to the PM’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, calling for an investigation into whether Sunak broke the Ministerial Code.

In her letter, she pointed to rules that state ministers should ensure no conflict appears to arise between their public duties and private interests, and that they should not accept any gift which could appear to compromise their judgement or place them under an improper obligation.

Blackman said: “Placing a bet on the lives of vulnerable refugees fleeing war and persecution is grotesque, callous and downright cruel – and shows just how out of touch Westminster is with the values of people in Scotland.

“It’s particularly shameful that Rishi Sunak, one of the richest men in the UK, thinks it’s appropriate to accept a £1,000 wager – and will remind ordinary working families that near billionaire Sunak doesn’t have a clue what life is like for the rest of us in a cost of living crisis.”

Labour’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth said: “Not a lot of people facing rising mortgages, bills and food prices are casually dropping £1,000 bets.”

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: “Instead of placing a trashy bet on the Rwanda scheme, the prime minister should put his money where his mouth is on the soaring NHS backlog.”

The policy of sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda aims to deter people from crossing the Channel and is a key part of Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats”. However, the plan has been stalled by legal challenges, with no deportation flights taking off yet.

In an attempt to revive the policy, the government introduced legislation declaring Rwanda a safe country but the bill needs to be approved by the House of Lords, where it has faced significant opposition, before it becomes law.

The government has said it is still aiming for flights to take off by the spring. In an interview on TalkTV, Morgan challenged the PM: “I’ll bet you £1,000 to a refugee charity you don’t get anybody on those planes before the election.”

Shaking hands with the presenter, Sunak said: “I want to get people on the planes.” Sunak has said he expects a general election to be held in the second half of this year and one must legally take place by the end of January 2025.

Pressed over whether he had accepted the bet, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “What is coming through in that interview is the prime minister’s absolute confidence that we will get flights off the ground.”

Asked whether, with the government taking a hard line on gambling, this set a good example, he said: “He’s focused on doing what is needed to deliver on the priorities for the British people.”

Meanwhile, Sunak has rowed back on a £1,000 bet with the broadcaster Piers Morgan on whether deportation flights to Rwanda would take off before the general election, saying he was “not a betting person”.

The prime minister said on Tuesday he had been “taken by surprise” when Morgan said to him during a TalkTV interview: “I’ll bet you £1,000 to a refugee charity [that] you don’t get anybody on those planes before the election. Will you take that bet?”

Asked if he understood the financial pressures facing ordinary households, given he had made a £1,000 bet on a whim, Sunak said: “When it comes to cost of living, when I first got this job I set out five priorities – the first of them was to halve inflation because I absolutely understood that the cost of living was the most pressing problem most families faced.”

Asked if it shocked him that poor families were reportedly having to water down baby formula, the prime minister replied: “Of course I am sad to hear that people are in that situation.”

He said it was difficult to comment on individual cases that were put to him and he committed to sitting down with the people involved if he was written to.

PM rows back on a £1,000 bet with Morgan on whether deportation flights to Rwanda would take off before the general election, saying he was “not a betting person”…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been criticised by opposition parties for a bet over his Rwanda policy. Asked by TalkTV’s Piers Morgan if he would bet £1,000 for a refugee charity that deportation flights would take off before the next election, the PM shook hands with him. Labour said it showed he was “totally out of touch with working people”.

The SNP said it had reported Sunak for a potential breach of ministerial rules over the “grotesque” bet.

The party’s Cabinet Office spokeswoman, Kirsty Blackman, has written to the PM’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, calling for an investigation into whether Sunak broke the Ministerial Code.

In her letter, she pointed to rules that state ministers should ensure no conflict appears to arise between their public duties and private interests, and that they should not accept any gift which could appear to compromise their judgement or place them under an improper obligation.

Blackman said: “Placing a bet on the lives of vulnerable refugees fleeing war and persecution is grotesque, callous and downright cruel – and shows just how out of touch Westminster is with the values of people in Scotland.

“It’s particularly shameful that Rishi Sunak, one of the richest men in the UK, thinks it’s appropriate to accept a £1,000 wager – and will remind ordinary working families that near billionaire Sunak doesn’t have a clue what life is like for the rest of us in a cost of living crisis.”

Labour’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth said: “Not a lot of people facing rising mortgages, bills and food prices are casually dropping £1,000 bets.”

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: “Instead of placing a trashy bet on the Rwanda scheme, the prime minister should put his money where his mouth is on the soaring NHS backlog.”

The policy of sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda aims to deter people from crossing the Channel and is a key part of Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats”. However, the plan has been stalled by legal challenges, with no deportation flights taking off yet.

In an attempt to revive the policy, the government introduced legislation declaring Rwanda a safe country but the bill needs to be approved by the House of Lords, where it has faced significant opposition, before it becomes law.

The government has said it is still aiming for flights to take off by the spring. In an interview on TalkTV, Morgan challenged the PM: “I’ll bet you £1,000 to a refugee charity you don’t get anybody on those planes before the election.”

Shaking hands with the presenter, Sunak said: “I want to get people on the planes.” Sunak has said he expects a general election to be held in the second half of this year and one must legally take place by the end of January 2025.

Pressed over whether he had accepted the bet, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “What is coming through in that interview is the prime minister’s absolute confidence that we will get flights off the ground.”

Asked whether, with the government taking a hard line on gambling, this set a good example, he said: “He’s focused on doing what is needed to deliver on the priorities for the British people.”

Meanwhile, Sunak has rowed back on a £1,000 bet with the broadcaster Piers Morgan on whether deportation flights to Rwanda would take off before the general election, saying he was “not a betting person”.

The prime minister said on Tuesday he had been “taken by surprise” when Morgan said to him during a TalkTV interview: “I’ll bet you £1,000 to a refugee charity [that] you don’t get anybody on those planes before the election. Will you take that bet?”

Asked if he understood the financial pressures facing ordinary households, given he had made a £1,000 bet on a whim, Sunak said: “When it comes to cost of living, when I first got this job I set out five priorities – the first of them was to halve inflation because I absolutely understood that the cost of living was the most pressing problem most families faced.”

Asked if it shocked him that poor families were reportedly having to water down baby formula, the prime minister replied: “Of course I am sad to hear that people are in that situation.”

He said it was difficult to comment on individual cases that were put to him and he committed to sitting down with the people involved if he was written to.

ALSO READ-Sunak suffers defeat in vote to delay Rwanda asylum treaty

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Sunak admits failure to cut NHS waiting lists

The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, together with his wife Akshata Murty, visits Evelina London Children's Hospital where they celebrated the 75th anniversary of the NHS with patients and staff. 10 Downing Street. Picture by Simon Walker / No 10 Downing Street

Sunak accepted a £1,000 bet with Piers Morgan that deportation flights to Rwanda would take place before the next general election…reports Asian Lite News

Rishi Sunak has acknowledged that he has failed to keep his promise to cut healthcare waiting lists. The prime minister made doing so one of the key commitments on which his own competence would be judged when taking office. But, with the situation in England actually worsening by many measures, the grand pledge was downgraded late last year, before Sunak then acknowledged failure on Monday.

“We have not made enough progress,” Sunak said when asked about his commitment to cut NHS waiting lists during an interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV. Asked if that meant he had failed, the prime minister replied: “Yes, we have.”

The shadow heath secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “Rishi Sunak has finally admitted what has been blatantly obvious to everyone else for years – the Conservatives have failed on the NHS.

“Where Sunak has failed, Labour will succeed in getting the NHS back on its feet. We did it before and we will do it again. We will cut waiting lists with 2 million more evening and weekend appointments, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status.”

In October, it emerged that the number of people waiting longer than 18 months for NHS treatment in England was growing. Data analysed by PA Media last month suggested that, despite recent decreases in the waiting list in England, it was still higher than when Sunak’s pledge was made.

The list stood at 7.21m outstanding treatments in January 2023. In November, NHS England figures showed 7.61m treatments were yet to be carried out.

NHS workers, many of whom have seen substantial pay cuts in real terms under Conservative governments, have been exercising their right to take industrial action to secure better terms.

Unions have consistently said ministers could avoid strikes by offering better pay deals. And government ministers have acknowledged privately they would end up needing to do so despite having spent months publicly insisting they would take no such step.

Health leaders warned Sunak in December that allowing the industrial dispute to grind on would make delivering his pledge all but impossible. Nevertheless, Sunak sought to blame striking workers for his failure.

Asked on Monday by TalkTV about the increased waiting lists in England, Sunak replied: “Yes, and we all know the reasons for that. And what I would say to people is: look, we have invested record amounts in the NHS: more doctors, more nurses, more scanners. All these things mean that the NHS is doing more today than it ever has been. But industrial action has had an impact.”

Morgan also told Sunak about his 79-year-old mother’s experience with NHS care three months ago after she had a heart attack. The broadcaster said that, despite being driven to the hospital in an ambulance, his mother waited on a trolley in an A&E corridor for nearly seven hours before being seen, in a scene she compared to a “war zone”.

The prime minister said the account was “shocking” and that performance in A&E and with ambulance waiting times were “not good enough”.

However, he denied the Tories had failed the NHS since 2010, citing the backlog created by the coronavirus pandemic. “We can’t escape that. When you shut down the country in the NHS for the best part of two years, that has had an impact on everything since then. And we just have to recognise that reality,” he said.

Also during the interview, Sunak accepted a £1,000 bet with Morgan that deportation flights to Rwanda would take place before the next general election, which is expected in the autumn.

He has previously set the target of sending people who arrive in the UK via unauthorised routes, including those crossing the Channel in small boats, to the east African country by the spring.

The UK has paid Rwanda £240m under Sunak’s plan to “stop the boats” – another of his five key pledges – and ministers expect to pay an additional £50m next year. But no one has yet been removed due to legal challenges that resulted in the supreme court last year finding the scheme unlawful.

Sunak is trying to revive the policy by passing legislation deeming Rwanda a safe country and ratifying a new treaty with Kigali. The Rwanda bill is making its way through the House of Lords.

After shaking hands with Morgan on the terms of the Rwanda bet, Sunak said: “I want to get the people on the plane. I am working incredibly hard to get the people on the planes.”

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