Dear John,

Welcome to this week's Weekend Wire, we are very much in the depths of recess and Westminster is feeling much quieter: there is still plenty of news to get stuck into…so here we go!

Bibby and the backlog

The beginning of this week saw the first migrants moved onto the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset, after multiple delays.

Of course ministers couldn’t just stop there with whispers around Westminster suggesting that they were considering sending asylum seekers to Ascension Island while their claims are processed. *Cue the Home Office non-denial* as officials hurriedly shut down the so-called plan B, reaffirming that all efforts are focused on Rwanda. 

If we just take a moment to dig into Rishi Sunak’s target to “abolish the backlog of initial asylum decisions” by the end of this year, it doesn’t look all that realistic. The Times has done the number crunching and calculates that the Home Office will need to process 2,800 claims per week to hit the PM’s pledge. 

Commission compromised

News that the Electoral Commission has been hit by a cyberattack dominated the headlines on Wednesday, the hack which has compromised the data of tens of millions of UK voters and sparked concerns of electoral interference, was discovered 10 months ago and is being investigated by GCHQ. 

Shockingly the breach went unnoticed for over a year, with the hackers gaining access to Electoral Commission emails and given they may have obtained the name and address of almost every voter, it’s potentially one of the largest cybersecurity breaches in UK history. 

Responding to the incident, the government confirmed ministers have been kept updated about GCHQ’s investigation and that the National Crime and Security Center was working closely with the Commission. 

📊 Saturday Survey

Should we change the voting age limit?

Summer shuffle

We’ve hit the recess halfway mark and SW1 feels particularly quiet as lots of those in Westminster are on holiday before September. Top of Sunak’s in-tray when he returns will be finalising his Cabinet reshuffle. 

A few tories in the know have suggested that there is a reasonable chance that the changes could happen in the last week of August, with a new team in place before parliament returns on September 3. All eyes now on whether Sunak finally has the courage to axe Cruella Braverman but maybe keeping her around makes him seem less horrible by comparison.

Backbench ECHR bill

Friday marked the end of No. 10’s depressing and offensive ‘Small Boats Week’ and Tory MPs are rounding it off with fresh calls for the U.K. to quit the European Convention on Human Rights. You know, that thing that protects us all from unlawful imprisonment and torture. Backbench pressure groups are calling for legislation during this parliament stipulating that the ECHR should not apply to migrants who arrive on small boats. 

If you thought talk of mad jet ski manoeuvres with had gone away you’d be wrong, as the Times spoke to some MPs including Tom Hunt and Jonathan Gullis who want Sunak to resurrect Priti Patel’s “pushback” approach of using Border Force jet skis to redirect small boats back into French waters.

Hawaii wildfires 

As of Friday morning, the number of people killed in the Hawaii wildfires has risen to 55 and hundreds more are said to be missing on the island of Maui. Governor Josh Green says the fires are the "largest natural disaster in Hawaii state history" and 80% of historic seaside town Lahaina is "gone". 

Joe Biden has now issued a "major disaster declaration" meaning the federal government will provide rescue and recovery funds. 

Our thoughts are with the people of Hawaii and all those affected by the fires.

That’s your lot for this week. Our External Affairs Manager, Jake Verity, will be with you next week but until then have a fantastic weekend! 

All the best,
Grace Pritchard
Head of Communications,
Best for Britain