A late addition:

On appeals against being sent to Rwanda, the PM claimed: "The judiciary have made available 25 courtrooms and identified 150 judges who could provide over 5,000 sitting days"

A judicial spokesman said: "The deployment of judges is a matter for the judiciary..."

https://twitter.com/lizziedearden/status/1782342904301621628

"...in line with new provisions in the Illegal Migration Act, the judiciary have identified a number of First Tier Tribunal judges who may be asked to sit in the Upper Tribunal to deal with any increase in appeals"

But decisions will be made by the Senior President of Tribunals

Follow this thread for a fact-checked watch-along of prime minister Rishi Sunak's press conference on the Rwanda scheme Wow he's going fast, I'll do my best

1. "We're going to deliver this indispensable deterrent so that we finally break the business model of the criminal gangs"

The Rwanda scheme required a rare ministerial direction because there is no evidence it will deter Channel crossings

Exclusive: The Home Office has been quietly rolling out a multi-million IT system that was supposed to "automate" asylum, citizenship and visa cases

It's now causing chaos, with errors, bugs and delays leaving staff "sobbing" while applicants suffer
inews.co.uk/news/politics/… At least £71m has so far been spent on the Atlas digital caseworking system and spending is rising, with the Home Office admitting “significant resource is being put in place to resolve” issues

Some of the glitches have been classified as a P1 “critical” technical incidents

New: Official figures passed to the UK by the Rwandan government raise fresh issues about its capacity to process asylum seekers from the UK

It has decided just over 400 claims in 5 years, and refused three quarters of them
inews.co.uk/news/politics/… Between 2019 and the end of November a total of 421 asylum claims were decided, and only 113 (27%) were granted

The largest number of cases considered by Rwanda in a single year was 164, in 2023. During the same period, the UK made decisions on more than 112,000 asylum cases

🚨Breaking: The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has conducted a legal assessment of the UK government's new Rwanda treaty and bill - and concludes the scheme still violates international law🚨 The government has claimed it can "address the Supreme Court's concerns" - the ruling that the Rwanda scheme was unlawful- with treaty enhancing safeguards on treatment of asylum seekers plus training and capacity building in Rwanda

The UNHCR says it hasn't fixed systemic issues

Revealed: The UK has lost track of thousands of migrants by removing their asylum claims from the system

But the Home Office's reliance on posted letters is causing chaos, and it is already having to reverse decisions and put cases back into the backlog
inews.co.uk/news/politics/… The asylum withdrawal process was designed for people who no longer wanted to claim asylum, had left UK or were non-compliant

But the tactic has rocketed amid changes to make it faster and easier since Rishi Sunak’s backlog pledge, and is now being used against genuine refugees

In the new Rwanda treaty, much of the substantial change is contained in the "Assurances as to treatment"

Among the additions from previous MOU is: "Nothing in this Article requires Rwanda to take steps to prevent a Relocated Individual from leaving Rwanda should they wish." This has always been the case, and was established in an early press briefing we had on the original deal, but it wasn't spelled out previously

New treaty on the left, previous Memorandum of Understanding on the right

I was the first journalist to report about the Home Office's rocketing "withdrawal" of asylum claims to hit Rishi Sunak's backlog target

When officials were questioned on it at today's Home Affairs Committee, they admitted: "In most cases, we don't know where those people are." As I reported in August, this tactic rose dramatically after the PM made pledge to clear "legacy backlog" by the end of 2023

Labour raised concern that those asylum seekers could "drift off into Britain’s underground economy, never to be heard of again"
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…

James Cleverly has got off on the right foot with Home Office civil servants

Yesterday afternoon, he gave a speech from the atrium of the department's Marsham Street headquarters that was broadcast to all staff, and went down very well

Here's what he said: Mr Cleverly said his former post as foreign secretary was was “fantastic” but “it's a privilege to serve” as home sec:“It is an incredibly important job & I'm flattered the PM has asked me to step into this role"

Said he wants to "be seen to be doing a good and professional job”

The Metropolitan Police used its powers to ban pro-Palestinian marchers, but not Cenotaph "defenders" and far right groups, from Whitehall today

When asked why, the senior officer in charge of the operation said he thought they would "not cause serious disorder by themselves" At a press conference, DAC Laurence Taylor did not use the term "far right" and called the Cenotaph event a "counter protest"

He said:"Counter-protest will be allowed in Whitehall, because the sole purpose and intention is to protect the sanctity of the Cenotaph and remembrance"

The third and final day of the Supreme Court hearing over the UK's Rwanda migration deal has begun - follow live updates here

Sir James Eadie, representing the Home Office, is responding to submissions from lawyers representing asylum seekers and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Sir James says assurances given by Rwanda on how asylum seekers sent from the UK will be treated are "adequate to protect against a real risk of refoulement" to countries where they are in danger

"The question becomes whether Rwanda will comply," he adds

The second day of the Supreme Court hearing over the Rwanda deal is now underway - follow this thread for updates

First up is Raza Husain KC, representing a group of asylum seekers selected for the scheme, arguing why it's unlawful and the government appeal should be dismissed Mr Husain says the High Court's December 2022 ruling that the Rwanda deal was lawful was wrong, and was correctly found to be wrong by the Court of Appeal in June

He says it did not consider "critical evidence as to the state - past and present - of the Rwandan asylum system"

Disabled asylum seekers and torture victims are among those that the Home Office has attempted to put on the Bibby Stockholm - in violation of its own guidance

It has been forced to reverse decisions to move at least 20 people after legal letters
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n… And it is now facing a wider challenge against the Bibby Stockholm

The charity Migrants Organise has sent a pre-action letter to the Home Office calling for it to stop transfers “until and unless all concerns regarding the safety and suitability of the barge have been addressed"

Exclusive: Rishi Sunak has been accused of “cooking the books” to cut the asylum backlog as thousands of claims are removed from the system following his pledge

More than 6,000 people were wiped off the list without being assessed in just 3 months
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n… The administrative "withdrawal" of asylum claims has quadrupled since the prime minister pledged in December to clear the pre-June 2022 asylum backlog

The Home Office is now withdrawing more claims than it decides, sparking accusations the backlog is being cut “by the back door”

Today, I was one of the journalists given an official tour of the Home Office's new asylum barge, the Bibby Stockholm

It sits behind 15ft metal fencing and two sets of guarded gates, with 222 tiny cabins modified to house 500 people
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n… Most cabins feature an austere two-person bunk bed, desk, metal wardrobe and en-suite bathroom, with the door just an arm’s length away from the bedframe. But a small number of slightly larger rooms have two or three bunk beds in each

TVs are on the wall but are disconnected

Exclusive: Home Office staff could strike if forced to implement the Rwanda deal and new small boats bill

Many fear the measures are unlawful and could put them at legal risk, and say they are sick of “constant downwards political pressure”
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n… The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, which represents almost 16,000 staff across different Home Office departments and Border Force, said it was “ruling absolutely nothing out in terms of responses to look after the welfare of our members” and could ballot for strike

A significant amount of responses to this story are suggesting that I have been "briefed" by civil servants/political opponents, or that it's part of a "witch-hunt"

It's not - it is the result of a six-month investigation by me, and only me
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n… It is being published this week in part because of the speeding story, which is unrelated but obviously drives interest in other potential breaches of the ministerial code

I started the investigation in November because of this passing comment to the Home Affairs Committee

Exclusive: Suella Braverman is facing fresh allegations of ministerial code breaches over her failure to formally disclose previous work with the Rwandan government

She was the director of a charity training its lawyers for five years
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n… The home secretary co-founded a charity called the Africa Justice Foundation with Cherie Blair, which trained Rwandan government lawyers between 2010 and 2015

Several people the charity worked with are current members of Paul Kagame’s government or working in its departments

The head of a 7-year inquiry that found a “national epidemic” of child sex abuse in Britain has condemned govt for failing to accept all of its recommendations

She said response "will not provide the protection from sexual abuse that our children deserve"
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n… Suella Braverman announced consultations for a new victims’ redress scheme and mandatory reporting duty, but the govt only partially accepted some calls from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and rejected others

Several are subject to consultation/review

Exclusive: Suella Braverman wants to create a law allowing the government to seize and search phones belonging to small boat migrants, despite an ongoing investigation by the Information Commissioner

The Home Office admitted it was illegal just last year
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n… After being sued by asylum seekers, it revealed a secret blanket policy seizing mobile phones from migrants crossing the Channel between 2018 and 2020

Home Office lawyers didn't fight the High Court battle, admitting the policy's existence and that it was completely unlawful

For 3 days this week, the National Conservatism Conference filled a large venue across the road from the Home Office, attracting an array of ministers and MPs

But it has no links to the Tories, and is run by a US group concerned for “Western civilization”
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi… The conference is run by a group called National Conservatism, which is a "project" of American think-tank the Edmund Burke Foundation

Founded in 2019, it was registered with UK's Companies House in March, by a Cambridge professor whose speech called trans a "social contagion"