Dear John,

Like our railways, any needless delay in bringing you the biggest stories from across the UK could mean the nationalisation of Weekend Wire, so let's just get straight to it:

Rwanda Reckoning



This week the apparent never ending Rwanda Bill <[link removed]>sadly finally passed into law. The Bill was held up in the Lord's last week with Peers holding firm over two key amendments to demand changes to the bill. The first of those was  protection for people who have worked with British armed forces; the second saying that flights should not take off until a committee of experts set up to monitor the scheme decides Rwanda has fulfilled certain safeguards.

However, Sunak, who is resting his whole crumbling legacy on this botched and likely ineffective policy declared on Monday "No ifs, no buts, these flights are going to Rwanda,"  and forced through the legislation in the early hours on Tuesday morning. Despite serious concerns that the  law enshrines Rwanda as a safe country despite any and all evidence to the contrary, showcases just how low this government is willing to go and why removing them has got to be our top priority. <[link removed]>

What next? Well as the £500 million scheme <[link removed]>, projected to cost £1.8 million <[link removed]> per asylum seeker is now law, the planes will supposedly take off during the summer with Sunak announcing a 10-12 week target for that first flight to Rwanda. The biggest question now is if he’ll be PM by then…

Holy-rude awakening



On Thursday there was huge political news coming from Edinburgh, with a vote of no confidence tabled in the First Minister Humza Yousaf and a potentially imminent collapse of the Scottish Government.as the SNP-Green Party power sharing deal, named  the ‘Bute House Agreement’ came to an end. 

There had been underlying tension between the SNP and Greens for various reasons <[link removed]>, but the catalyst behind the end of the alliance came following a disagreement about climate targets, which saw the two parties separate. Yousaf proclaimed this week that his party would return to minority rule with "immediate effect" and that the agreement had “served its purpose”.

Although the First Minister was keen to keep working ‘constructively’ with the Scottish Greens, it appears the nuclear button was firmly  hit when the Greens declared that the SNP have “sold out future generations” and saying they would back a vote of no confidence that the Scottish Conservatives had tabled, <[link removed]> which Scottish Labour and the Lib Dems also supported.

With the SNP being two MSPs short of a majority all eyes now turn to one member - Ash Regan. If you can remember that SNP leadership contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon, it was Regan who ran against Humza Yousaf (and Kate Forbes).  

Regan left the SNP last October and now sits as a member of the Alba Party, and seems to have the deciding vote in whether Humza Yousaf stays or goes. It’s particularly dramatic when you consider that Yousaf said Regan was “no great loss” <[link removed]>when leaving the SNP. 

A vote of no confidence is almost certain to take place next week in Holyrood in what could be Humza Yousaf and perhaps even the SNP’s final days in office…

Rayner in

This week at PMQs the deputies were in charge with Angela Rayner and Oliver Dowden going head to head in a punchy PMQs session. Dowden started off by predictably taking tired jabs at Rayner over her well publicised and widely panned police investigation <[link removed]>. Rayner returned fire with both barrels, describing the PM as a “Pint sized loser” in her closing remarks. 

The debate was dominated by bolstering of councils and mayors, hardly unexpected considering the upcoming local elections next Thursday. If things go badly for the Tories, we’ll be interested to see if at the next PMQs it’s still Sunak facing off against Starmer.

Brexit Corner

What a way to run a country



Confusion reigns as the Government prepares to introduce new Brexit checks next week on food and plant imports, inevitably pushing up prices for consumers and businesses alike.  Despite  conflicting reports of delays and changes, the Government has yet to give certainty on what is actually going to happen in a little over 3 days time! Businesses are as mad as they are worried and MPs  have written to the Government <[link removed]>demanding clarity.

If we had some good ole beneficial regulatory alignment with our largest market, these problems would go away. If only there was a campaign group with an associated commission of business leaders and MPs <[link removed]> working on just that.

Platform Policy



For the many among us who have travelled  by train over recent  years you’ll know that sinking feeling when the announcer declares that your train is severely delayed or worse, cancelled? 

Between strikes, extortionate fares and the dreaded rail replacement bus, most Brits are sick to the back teeth with how the railways have been run.

How lucky we are then that the Labour Party this week announced their plan to fully nationalise the train network within five years of coming to power <[link removed]>, with a pledge to guarantee the cheapest fares as part of “the biggest reform of our railways for a generation”.

The plan will supposedly bring all the main passenger rail companies into national ownership under Great British Railways as contracts with private operators expire, a plan that has been endorsed by the architect of the Conservatives’ own rail plan

Whatever the party proposing it, any policy that makes it less likely that I have to stand on an overcrowded train next to a broken toilet all the way from London to Newcastle is a big win in my books!

The Read Wall

Did you catch the latest release <[link removed]> from our massive MRP poll? We found that more readers of the main Tory cheerleading press… actually plan to vote Labour. How embarrassing.

🫣 Cringe Column 😬

In this week's Cringe Column, which has seen its fair share of squirm-worthy cringe moments, Chris Philp’s performance on Question Time was so egregious that we’ve dedicated the entire section to him this week.

<[link removed]>As Home Office Minister, Mr Philp was asked by an audience member who has family living in Congo whether people seeking asylum from Congo would be sent to Rwanda considering the conflict between the two countries. Chris Philp’s answer?... Well see for yourself: 

[link removed]

That’s just about everything for this week. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend. 

Best wishes,

Ben Stead Lewis
External Affairs Officer

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