Politics latest news: Tory support sinks as Reform UK hits record polling high

Reform UK has hit a new polling high while the Tories have sunk to a level of public support last seen when Liz Truss was prime minister.

A new YouGov survey, conducted between Jan 16-17, put Reform on 12 per cent of the vote which was up by two points when compared to the company’s previous poll conducted between Jan 10-11.

YouGov said this was the “highest vote share we have recorded for the party to date”.

Richard Tice, the Reform leader, hailed the poll result and said it was now a case of “onwards and upwards”.

Meanwhile, the poll put the Tories on just 20 per cent, with the Labour Party 27 points ahead on 47 per cent. The Tories were down two points and Labour were up by two points.

It is the lowest level of support recorded for the Conservatives since the last days of Mr Truss’s administration in October 2022 when the party was on 19 per cent.

You can follow the latest updates below and join the conversation in the comments section here. 

04:00 PM GMT

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03:43 PM GMT

Pictured: Rishi Sunak meets Border Force dog Jinx at Gatwick Airport

03:22 PM GMT

Reader poll: Is Sunak delivering on his stop the boats pledge?

Rishi Sunak said this morning that he was proud of the progress he had made so far to deliver on his pledge to “stop the boats” (see the post below at 10.24).

How would you rate the PM’s performance on the issue? You can have your say in our reader poll:

03:02 PM GMT

Labour accuse PM of 'playing fast and loose with the facts’ over asylum backlog

Labour accused Rishi Sunak of “playing fast and loose with the facts” as the party responded to today’s letter from the UK Statistics Authority relating to the Government’s claim about clearing the backlog of “legacy” asylum cases (see the post below at 11.50).

Stephen Kinnock, the shadow immigration minister, said: “The Prime Minister’s addiction to playing fast and loose with the facts is the behaviour of someone not fit for public office.

“He has not cleared the backlog – there are 100,000 people still awaiting a decision. He should adopt Labour’s backlog clearance plan, and deliver the security partnership we need to stop the boats getting in the water in the first place.”

02:50 PM GMT

Three quarters of voters say Sunak’s Stop the Boats pledge has gone badly, poll reveals

Almost three quarters of voters believe the Government’s Stop the Boats pledge has gone badly, according to a new poll.

Just 18 per cent of the public think the  promise has gone well so far against 72 per cent who feel it has gone badly.

Conservative and Leave voters are more critical than those from other parties, with 73 per cent of Tory supporters feeling it has gone badly, and 76 per cent of those who voted to quit the European Union (EU).

You can read the full story here.

02:37 PM GMT

Tory MP hopeful of ‘significant reduction’ in illegal immigration by summer

Tory MP Bob Seely said the Government’s measures to curb illegal immigration should lead to a “significant reduction” in numbers by the summer.

He told GB News: “I understand people’s cynicism. I feel that cynicism as well, because sometimes I think, is there nothing that we can do that’s going to have an effect?

“But I think you’ve now got an accumulation of things that we’re doing. We have already stopped or reduced illegal migration by 30 per cent just on the returns policies, so if you’re an Albanian and you come here illegally, you go back to Albania. Likewise, Bulgaria, likewise Turkey. So we’ve got those returns deals, and we need more of them.

“We’ve got clamped down on illegal employment in the UK. We’ve got greater cooperation with the French and we’ve got the Rwanda Bill going through.

“The planes by themselves are not going to have the entirety of an effect…there is now an accumulation of work being done, which I hope by this summer we will see a significant reduction.”

02:10 PM GMT

Starmer: I served Corbyn – but I never thought he’d win

Sir Keir Starmer has admitted he never thought Jeremy Corbyn would win the 2019 general election and only served in his shadow cabinet to stop Conservative Brexit plans.

The Labour leader said he did not vote for his predecessor but continued in his position as shadow Brexit secretary because he felt a “responsibility” to be involved in deciding how Britain would leave the European Union.

You can read the full story here.

01:49 PM GMT

Lib Dems accuse Tories of ‘twisting the facts’ after UKSA letter

The Liberal Democrats accused the Government of “twisting the facts” as it responded to today’s letter from the UK Statistics Authority on the asylum backlog claim (see the post below at 11.50).

The UKSA letter was the result of an initial request for an investigation made by Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dems’ home affairs spokesman.

He said today: “Not only is the Conservative Government celebrating something that is no achievement, they are twisting the facts – as proven by the UK Statistics Authority just today.

“As this letter again shows, the Conservatives have not cleared the asylum backlog. Thousands of vulnerable people are still living in limbo as they wait for their claims to be processed. The British public deserves better than this.”

12:54 PM GMT

SNP: Sunak’s priorities ‘are all wrong’

Responding to Rishi Sunak’s press conference, Alison Thewliss, the SNP’s home affairs spokeswoman, said: “With temperatures plummeting, energy bills skyrocketing, and inflation on the rise, people across Scotland will have been filled with despair at the Prime Minister spending his morning talking about shipping vulnerable people off to Rwanda.

“His priorities are all wrong, and the public are fed up. Instead of targeting vulnerable people fleeing war and persecution, the UK Government should be prioritising supporting households battling the Westminster-made cost of living crisis.”

12:27 PM GMT

Rwanda Bill welcomed to House of Lords by shout of ‘shame’

There was a shout of “shame” as the Government’s Rwanda Bill was introduced to the House of Lords today.

In keeping with convention, the flagship deportation plan received an unopposed first reading in the unelected chamber following its approval by MPs.

The Bill will be scheduled for formal debate in the coming weeks.

12:07 PM GMT

Lib Dems claim Tories ‘out of touch and out of ideas’ after PM press conference

Sir Ed Davey claimed the Government was “out of touch and out of ideas” as he responded to Rishi Sunak’s press conference.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats said: “This Conservative government crashed the economy, sent mortgage rates spiralling and has made it almost impossible to see a GP.

“Instead of tackling these major challenges, Rishi Sunak’s government is too busy fighting over an unworkable and expensive policy that is destined to fail.

“It just confirms how desperately out of touch and out of ideas this Conservative government is. We urgently need a general election so we can finally put an end to this cycle of Conservative chaos and get on with tackling the huge challenges facing us all.”

11:50 AM GMT

Statistics watchdog criticises Government over asylum backlog claim

The UK’s statistics watchdog has criticised Rishi Sunak and the Government over the claim to have delivered on a pledge to clear the backlog of “legacy” asylum cases.

The Prime Minister and the Home Office both said the pledge had been delivered despite the fact that thousands of cases had not been completely resolved. The “legacy” backlog referred to claims submitted before June 2022.

Sir Robert Chote, the chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, said in a letter published today that the “average member of the public is likely to interpret a claim to have ‘cleared a backlog’ – especially when presented without context on social media – as meaning that it has been eliminated entirely”.

He said it was “not surprising” that some people may have felt misled and there “may be a perfectly good case for excluding cases of this type from any commitment to eliminate the backlog over the time frame the Government chose, but this argument was not made at the time the target was announced”.

Sir Robert said: “This episode may affect public trust when the Government sets targets and announces whether they have been met in the other policy domains.”

11:41 AM GMT

Reform UK hits new polling high

Reform UK has hit a new polling high, according to the latest survey carried out by YouGov.

The poll, conducted between Jan 16-17, put Reform on 12 per cent which was up by two points when compared to the previous poll conducted between Jan 10-11.

YouGov said this was the “highest vote share we have recorded for the party to date”.

The Lib Dems were up by one point to eight per cent and the Greens were down by one point to seven per cent.

The uptick in support for Reform UK is likely to further fuel Tory concerns that Richard Tice’s party could hinder Rishi Sunak’s attempt to win the next general election.

Mr Tice hailed the poll result and said it was now a case of “onwards and upwards”.

11:24 AM GMT

Labour blast Tories over thousands of ‘lost’ asylum seekers

A letter from Home Office ministers to the Home Affairs select committee suggested the Government had lost track of more than 5,000 asylum seekers.

The letter, published by the committee yesterday, said the Home Office was “taking steps to urgently reestablish contact” with 5,598 people.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: “This is a staggering admission that the Home Office has lost almost 6,000 asylum seekers and has no idea where they are.

“The fact that thousands of people have been allowed to effectively disappear into the underground economy or left vulnerable to exploitation by criminal gangs is yet more evidence of the shocking mismanagement and chaos in the Tory asylum system.”

11:07 AM GMT

Jeremy Hunt attends World Economic Forum in Davos to hail UK's tech credentials

10:56 AM GMT

More than 350 migrants crossed English Channel on small boats yesterday

Eight boats carrying more than 350 migrants made the perilous journey across the English Channel yesterday, according to official Home Office statistics published this morning.

A total of 358 migrants were detected making the crossing on the day that the Government’s Rwanda Bill cleared the House of Commons.

10:41 AM GMT

PM dodges question on punishment for Tory rebels

Rishi Sunak was asked if the 11 Tory rebels who voted against the Rwanda Bill would be punished for going against the Government.

The Prime Minister said last night’s third reading vote had shown the Conservative Party was “united in wanting to stop the boats”.

He did not comment on the punishment issue and said the focus should now be on what Labour would do to stop small boat Channel crossings.

10:35 AM GMT

Sunak wants Rwanda flights ‘as soon as practically possible’

Asked when exactly the first flight to Rwanda will take off, Rishi Sunak did not commit to a date but said he wanted it to be “as soon as practically possible”.

The Prime Minister said the Government had shown that it was “not messing around here”, with ministers and officials “working as fast and as quickly as we can”.

However, he repeated that the timing question is now largely reliant on what happens in the House of Lords.

10:31 AM GMT

PM fails to guarantee Rwanda flights before next election

Rishi Sunak was asked if he could 100 per cent guarantee that a Rwanda flight will take off before the next general election.

The Prime Minister said he had demonstrated the “urgency with which we are attacking this problem” and “it is now up to the House of Lords”.

He said he wanted the Lords to pass the legislation unamended “as quickly as possible”. He did not give a cast iron guarantee.

10:28 AM GMT

Progress being made ‘across the board’, Sunak tells Tory critics

Rishi Sunak was asked about reports that Tory MPs had submitted multiple letters of no confidence in recent days amid Rwanda Bill tensions (see the post below at 09.25).

The Prime Minister said that the “progress we have made is demonstrable” as he delivered a defiant message to his critics.

He said: “Obviously progress on the boats is there but we need to go further. But my main message is the plan is working.

“Across the board you can see that progress is being made and our job is to stick to that plan, deliver for the country and the alternative is clear. Keir Starmer has had four years to set out an alternative and he hasn’t done so.”

10:24 AM GMT

Sunak ‘proud’ of progress made on stopping the boats

The Prime Minister said voters will “judge the progress we are making” on stopping the boats after it was suggested that he was failing to deliver on this pledge.

Rishi Sunak said he was “proud” of the progress made so far.

He said that he had always said stopping small boat Channel crossings was a “difficult problem” and that “it is not going to be solved overnight”.

Mr Sunak claimed Labour was offering “no alternative” solution on the issue.

10:20 AM GMT

Tories ‘completely united in wanting to stop the boats’, says Sunak

Rishi Sunak said that while progress had been made on stopping the boats it was now “past time to start the flights” to Rwanda.

Asked if Tory critics of his premiership should now “put a sock in it”, the Prime Minister said he believed the Conservative Party was “completely united in wanting to stop the boats”.

He conceded that the “last year was difficult” but the UK and the Tories are now “pointing in the right direction”.

10:17 AM GMT

Rishi Sunak urges House of Lords to ‘do the right thing’ and pass Rwanda Bill

Rishi Sunak is now on his feet as he holds a press conference in No 9 Downing Street in the wake of his Rwanda Bill victory.

The Prime Minister said the “Conservative Party had come together” to pass the Bill as he described the passage of the legislation as an “urgent national priority”.

He said: “There is now only one question: Will the opposition in the appointed House of Lords try and frustrate the will of the people as expressed by the elected House or will they get on board and do the right thing?”

10:08 AM GMT

Sunak expected to press Lords to pass Rwanda Bill with speed

10:03 AM GMT

Analysis: No 10 is celebrating – but Sunak hasn’t solved his immigration problem

Downing Street will be breathing a sigh of relief and popping the champagne corks after last night’s Rwanda Bill victory but the battle over Rishi Sunak’s flagship legislation is far from over, my colleague Ben Riley-Smith argues in a piece of must read analysis:

You can read the full piece here.

09:49 AM GMT

Rwanda Bill a ‘step towards totalitarianism’

Leading lawyer and independent crossbencher Lord Carlile of Berriew said the Government was stepping “towards totalitarianism” in its handling of the Rwanda Bill.

He told the the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “I think many of us in the House of Lords believe that is exactly what has happened, that good policy-making and the integrity of our legal system are under attack because of internal political quarrelling in the Conservative Party.

“If you want to blame someone, you can blame the lawyers, but the lawyers on the whole do not accept that. What we are doing is trying to countermand meddling by politicians in the law.

“It’s been Government elevating itself to an unacceptable level above the law, above our much-admired Supreme Court, and above the reputation internationally of the United Kingdom law.

“We’ve seen in various countries the damage that is done when governments use perceived and often ill-judged political imperatives to place themselves above the courts – this is a step towards totalitarianism and an attitude that the United Kingdom usually deprecates.

“I think you’ll find that many of lawyers in the House of Lords will say this is a step too far, this is illegitimate interference by politics with the law, on an issue that can be solved in other ways.”

09:39 AM GMT

Pictured: Lord Cameron attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

09:25 AM GMT

‘Multiple no confidence letters submitted by Tory MPs yesterday’

Multiple letters of no confidence in Rishi Sunak were submitted to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, yesterday amid tensions over the Rwanda Bill, according to a report this morning by LBC.

Chris Philp, the policing minister, said letters going in “wasn’t something that was particularly on my radar” when he spoke to MPs yesterday.

Asked how concerned he was, Mr Philp told LBC: “Well, last night, around Parliament, obviously, you know, we voted repeatedly on different elements of this Bill. So we were all sort of, we the MPs, were all together milling around Parliament for a number of hours last night, and I didn’t particularly pick that up myself as an issue.

“So it’s not something that was, until you mentioned it just then, it wasn’t something that was particularly on my radar.”

09:16 AM GMT

Sunak now ‘stronger’ after Rwanda Bill cleared Commons, says Philp

Rishi Sunak has emerged “stronger” after a Tory rebellion over his Rwanda plan receded, Chris Philp, the Home Office minister, has said, despite three resignations.

Asked whether the Prime Minister was “stronger or weaker” after the passing of the Bill but the departures of two Tory deputy chairmen and a ministerial aide, Mr Philp told LBC: “I think to the extent it has any impact on that, probably stronger.”

09:06 AM GMT

Government does not share Rees-Mogg’s ‘pessimism’ on Rwanda flights

Chris Philp said he does not share the “pessimism” of Tory former minister Sir Jacob-Rees Mogg over Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan.

Sir Jacob said it was “unlikely” flights to Kigali would be running before the next election. The Government has said its aim is to start deporting asylum seekers to the east African nation by spring.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, Mr Philp said: “I don’t share Jacob’s pessimism… the target is by the spring. It will have a very powerful deterrent effect.”

08:54 AM GMT

‘You can walk and chew gum at the same time’

Chris Philp, the policing minister, has denied the battle to save the Rwanda plan was consuming all of Rishi Sunak’s time.

He told Sky News: “It’s not taking up all of his time. You can walk and chew gum at the same time.

“We are delivering on other pledges. He said he’d halve inflation and we’ve done that.”

08:39 AM GMT

Braverman: Rwanda Bill ‘will not stop the boats’

Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, was one of 11 Tory MPs to vote against the Rwanda Bill at third reading last night.

She said in a tweet that she had taken the decision because she believed the Bill as currently drafted “leaves us exposed to litigation and the Strasbourg court”.

She said the legislation “will not stop the boats”.

08:26 AM GMT

Three quarters believe PM’s stop the boats pledge has gone badly

Almost three quarters of voters believe the Government has handled Rishi Sunak’s stop the boats pledge badly, according to a new Savanta survey.

A poll conducted between Jan 5-7 found that 72 per cent of people believe the pledge has gone badly.

Just 18 per cent said it had gone well.

08:17 AM GMT

Current poll numbers not making ‘great reading’ for Tories, admits minister

A new opinion poll giving the Tories just 20 per cent support does not make for “great reading”, a minister conceded this morning.

A new YouGov survey, published by The Times, put the Tories on 20 per cent and the Labour Party on 47 per cent – a 27 point lead.

The 20 per cent figure has not been seen for the Tories since the last days of the Liz Truss administration in October 2022.

Responding to the numbers, Chris Philp told Times Radio: “Those polling numbers do not make great reading, obviously.

“However, the poll that matters is the election, we’re still a year, roundabout a year away, just under a year away probably from a general election. And I think what the government is focused on doing rightly is just delivering on these key pledges.”

08:09 AM GMT

Rishi Sunak to hold press conference

Rishi Sunak is expected to hold a press conference in Downing Street later this morning.

The Prime Minister is expected to give his reaction to the Rwanda Bill clearing the House of Commons last night.

08:02 AM GMT

‘Absolutely the intention’ to have Rwanda flights before next election

Chris Philp said it is “absolutely the intention” that migrant deportation flights to Rwanda will take off before the next general election.

Asked the question this morning, the policing minister told Times Radio: “That is absolutely the intention. The intention is to get these flights off as soon as possible. The aim is to do that by the spring.

“The Bill of course now has to go through the House of Lords. It passed the Commons stages late last night, passing its final stage, third reading, by a healthy majority of 44.

“It now has got to go through the process in the Lords before it becomes law and it is a critical part of making sure we do stop the boats. That is the pledge, that needs to be delivered.”

07:58 AM GMT

Minister: Rwanda Bill should make it through House of Lords ‘fairly fast’

Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill should make it through the House of Lords “fairly fast”, a minister said this morning after the flagship legislation cleared the House of Commons last night.

Chris Philp, the policing minister, told Times Radio: “The aim is to get these flights off as soon as possible and the target is to do that by the spring because obviously operationally the Home Office has been getting ready, Rwanda is ready, we just need this Bill to get onto the statute book.

“It is a pretty short Bill, it is only about five or six substantive clauses. To give you a sense of context, the Criminal Justice Bill that I am taking through Parliament… has about 80 clauses.

“So it is a pretty short Bill which means it should be able to get through the House of Lords fairly fast.”

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