“Rishi Sunak will push his plans for welfare reforms and tax cuts in a bid to keep his leadership afloat as he faces threats of challenges from his own party. The PM goes into a tough week of local election battles reeling from the defection of former Tory minister Dan Poulter, who joined Labour in protest of the Government’s NHS management. No10 sources played down the impact of Dr Poulter’s defection on the PM and he is said to be focusing on promoting recent policy announcements – denying suggestions Mr Sunak is planning to call a snap election to defy the rebels. But the PM is facing threats from multiple wings of his party with rebels poised to challenge his leadership in the event of bad local election results.” – The I
>Yesterday:
“Rishi Sunak will face a challenge to his leadership if the Conservatives suffer heavy losses and lose high-profile mayors in Thursday’s local elections, rightwing Tory rebels have claimed. Most Conservative MPs believe the prime minister would survive even a terrible set of results on May 2 because there is no viable alternative and a general election is around the corner. “There will just be sullen grumpiness all round,” said one former cabinet minister…But a group of Conservative MPs and ex-officials, including diehard supporters of ex-premiers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, say they will launch one final bid to try to topple Sunak. Speaking anonymously, the Tory rebels told the Financial Times that a plan has been drawn up to destabilise or oust Sunak…” – The Financial Times
“One in five Conservative councillors have considered standing for another party, according to a new survey. With days to go until what is expected to be a bruising set of local elections for Rishi Sunak’s party, i can reveal just over 20 per cent of Tory councillors have contemplated defecting. Polling, carried out between February and March, showed 21 per cent of 391 Tory councillors questioned said they had thought of switching parties. Eleven per cent thought of doing so often or sometimes – two per cent said often and nine per cent thought of defecting “sometimes”. A further 10 per cent said they had considered it but rarely. Some 77 per cent said they had never thought of leaving the Conservatives to stand for a rival party.” – The I
“Millions of people on disability benefits face “the biggest welfare reforms in a generation” under which those with depression and anxiety could lose cash payments. Sickness benefit payments should cease for “many, many people” with the conditions, ministers will argue, instead proposing “meaningful support” such as talking therapies and social care packages. Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, said the welfare system should not be paying people to deal with the ordinary difficulties of life. He is preparing to publish plans that would overhaul benefits paid to millions of people and are likely to stop regular payments for a variety of mental health problems and other conditions. Welfare reform will be used as a key dividing line in the general election…” – The Times
“Gillian Keegan is to axe the 50 per cent cap on faith schools, ending a policy that forces institutions to keep half their places open for children of different religions. The Education Secretary will announce the move this week, explaining that it will encourage faith schools to expand and create more “high-quality” places for pupils. Lord David Cameron – who has described himself as “evangelical” about his Christian faith – introduced the cap while in the coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. Under current rules, any new faith schools that are oversubscribed can only prioritise pupils based on faith for 50 per cent of its places. When the cap was introduced, it was argued that it would stop the proliferation of hardline religious schools.” – The Daily Telegraph
“The NHS is to crack down on transgender ideology in hospitals, with terms like “chestfeeding” set to be banned. Victoria Atkins, the Health Secretary, will this week announce a series of changes to the NHS constitution which sets out patients’ rights. Referring to “people who have ovaries” rather than “women” will also be prohibited under plans to ensure hospitals use clear language based on biological sex. The new constitution will ban transgender women from being treated on single-sex female hospital wards to ensure women and girls receive “privacy and protection” in hospitals. Patients will also be given the right to request that intimate care is carried out by someone of the same biological sex.” – The Daily Telegraph
“The Home Office will launch a UK-wide operation on Monday to detain asylum seekers in preparation to remove them to Rwanda. A government official on Sunday confirmed the plan, which had been expected to start some weeks from now after Rishi Sunak said last Monday it would take until July for the first removal flights to Kigali to commence. The prime minister is facing a tough week as the Conservatives brace for potentially devastating losses in the local and mayoral elections happening on Thursday. Last week Sunak finally secured parliamentary approval for his Rwanda legislation, which underpins his contentious plan to send some asylum seekers to Kigali. He hopes the plan will deter migrants coming to the UK on small boats across the English Channel.” – The Financial Times
>Yesterday:
“Only the best-performing universities should be allowed to issue visas to foreign students as part of measures to reduce net migration to tens of thousands of people a year, a report endorsed by Michael Gove has recommended. Onward, aNi centrist Conservative think tank, recommends that immigration rules should be “radically reformed” to reduce migration to a “sustainable” level. It says that the current level of net migration of more than 700,000 people a year “disincentivises automation and paying UK workers properly”. In the year to September 2023 more than 486,000 student visas were issued, with an additional 152,980 visas going to the dependants — partners and relatives — of students.” – The Times
>Today:
“The Government has accused the EU of double standards after Ireland vowed to send asylum seekers to the UK despite France refusing to take Channel migrants back. The row erupted after senior Irish ministers said they would draft emergency laws to send back refugees who had arrived from the UK to avoid being deported to Rwanda. However, Tory ministers consider the proposal a “non-starter” because they are unable to send asylum seekers who arrive on small boats across the Channel back to France… On Monday, the Home Office will start detaining asylum seekers to be deported to Rwanda, with the Government hoping that the first flights will take off in the summer. It comes amid record numbers of migrants crossing the Channel before the end of April…” – The Daily Telegraph
“A former minister sanctioned by China was detained and deported by an East African country with close ties to the Chinese state, The Telegraph can reveal. Tim Loughton, a senior member of the Commons’ home affairs committee, believes his unprecedented and “intimidating” detention and expulsion by the Djibouti authorities was a “direct consequence” of his criticism of the Chinese regime. It is understood the Foreign Office is seeking an explanation from the Djiboutis over his treatment. Mr Loughton has raised the affair with Andrew Mitchell, the deputy Foreign Secretary, and written to the Djibouti ambassador via the Foreign Office to protest about the “outrageous” behaviour… Mr Loughton is one of seven parliamentarians sanctioned by the Chinese…” – The Daily Telegraph
>Today:
“Humza Yousaf is preparing to quit as Scotland’s first minister after coming to the conclusion that his position is no longer tenable. Senior SNP figures have been told the nationalist leader decided over the weekend that there is no way for him to survive this week’s vote of no confidence and he may stand down on Monday. It comes as Yousaf struggles to put together a coalition of MSPs that would keep him in office after he sacked the Scottish Greens from government. A close friend said: “Humza knows what’s best for the country and the party. He is first party activist and a party man, and that’s why he knows it’s time for someone else.” The former SNP leader John Swinney has been approached by senior party figures to become an interim first minister…” – The Times
>Yesterday:
“People aged over 70 and those with long-term health conditions would have access to the same named GP for every appointment under plans unveiled by the Liberal Democrats, as polling reveals almost half of Britons rarely or never see their family doctor. The Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, said the policy would require 8,000 more GPs and take at least four years to implement at the cost of an extra £1bn a year, with the money coming from taxing big banks. Elderly people and those with long-term conditions, including mental health conditions, have been found to benefit the most from access to the same GP, the Lib Dems said, pointing to a study that found people who have kept the same GP for more than 15 years have a 25% lower chance of dying than those with a new GP…” – The Guardian