Ken Clarke says government is setting an ‘extremely dangerous precedent’ with Rwanda bill – as it happened

We will shortly be wrapping up today’s live blog. Here are the headlines …

• Keir Starmer is under pressure to suspend councillors who attended a meeting in Hyndburn over claims that they failed to call out antisemitic remarks by Azhar Ali, the former Labour candidate for the Rochdale byelection. On Tuesday, Labour suspended Graham Jones, the candidate for Hyndburn in Lancashire, less than 24 hours after the party withdrew its support from Ali.

• Former Conservative home secretary and chancellor Kenneth Clarke has told the House of Lords that Rishi Sunak’s government is setting an “extremely dangerous precedent” and he hopes the Rwanda bill will be struck down as unconstitutional. The Lords were debating a series of proposed amendments. John Randall, former Conservative minister, warned his party “not be so dogmatic that we haven’t got an inch of humanity”. Baroness Butler-Sloss told peers victims of modern slavery and human trafficking should be protected from removal to Rwanda

• The UK’s annual inflation rate unexpectedly held steady at 4% in January despite rising energy bills adding to the pressure on households, raising the chances of a cut in interest rates sooner than anticipated. Offering consumers some respite amid the cost of living crisis, the latest figures showed food and non-alcoholic drink prices fell at a monthly rate of 0.4% in January – the first monthly decline since May 2021.

• The governor of the Bank of England has said the UK economy is beginning to pick up. Sunak has told the media today that he absolutely believes “the economy has turned the corner” while convening the first meeting of his 2024 Business Council.

• The average UK house price fell by around £4,000 in the 12 months to December 2023, according to official figures, although the change was unevenly distributed among the nations. The private rental market saw large cost increases for tenants. The ONS said private rental prices paid by tenants in the UK rose by 6.2% in the 12 months to January 2024.

• Train drivers at five rail operators have voted to continue taking strike action for another six months. Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef said “Our members have voted, time and again, for strikes. That’s why Mark Harper, the transport secretary, is being disingenuous when he says that offer should have been put to members.”

• The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) regulator has launched an investigation into the performance of National Highways in England.

• Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has endorsed Vaughan Gething as his choice for Labour leader in Wales.

• Voters will go to the polls tomorrow in the Kingswood and Wellingborough byelections, with Labour hoping to gain two seats from the Conservatives.

Thank you so much for sticking with the blog today and for your comments. I do try and read them all and often find them helpful – especially if you have spotted some ambiguous wording or typos. I will be with you again tomorrow from 9am-ish, when there will be byelections on, and so by law I will have to be on my best behaviour.

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has written for the Mirror today to endorse Vaughan Gething as his choice for Labour leader in Wales.

Noting Gething’s previous role as health minister, Kinnock says:

He was tested under the spotlight of our biggest public health emergency for a century and the biggest crisis Britain has experienced since the second world war. Vaughan’s qualities and values stem from his democratic socialism, his long history of trade unionism and his strong character.

Painting the next general election as “a real opportunity to finally oust the Tories after 14, long, painful years”, Kinnock goes on to say “Vaughan is the right candidate to spearhead that fight in Wales and help Keir Starmer become prime minister.”

Gething is standing against Jeremy Miles to succeed Mark Drakeford as first minister of Wales and Labour leader in the country.

The finance committee of the Northern Ireland assembly is meeting in Stormont, amid some rows about the deal presented by the UK government for funding which requires Northern Ireland to raise its own additional revenue. The SDLP’s Matthew O’Toole is chair of the newly reconstituted committee, and his party have said the key questions are:

• What has been agreed with the British government on revenue raising and what will it cost families?

• Where is the plan to rescue public services?

• When will public sector workers get a pay rise?

There is a live stream of the proceedings here, although the first bit of the session was behind closed doors.

Former Conservative home secretary and chancellor Kenneth Clarke has told the House of Lords that Rishi Sunak’s government is setting an “extremely dangerous precedent” and he hopes the Rwanda bill will be struck down as unconstitutional.

He told peers during a second day of committee debate about proposed amendments to the bill:

I continue to be completely flabbergasted by the constitutional implications of a government acting in this way.

I would ask the minister whether he has been able to find any precedent for this occurring, has any government in a similar situation ever decided to reverse any legal defeat by just passing legislation saying the facts are what we say they are, not the facts that the supreme court has found on the evidence? I think it’s unlikely.

For that reason, I think it’s an extremely dangerous precedent. I very much hope that there will be a legal challenge which will enable the supreme court to strike it down as unconstitutional in due course, but the better step would be for parliament not to pass the legislation in the first place.

The governor of the Bank of England has said the UK economy is beginning to pick up. Speaking to the House of Lords economic affairs committee, PA Media reports Andrew Bailey told peers:

We will find out whether we had a so-called technical recession or not, depending on what the fourth quarter number is.

In our February monetary policy report it was in the balance – we didn’t have a recession in the forecast, but it is at best flat, in the view we took. It wouldn’t take much to tip it either way, frankly.

Going forward, and I think this is in some ways more significant, we are now seeing some signs of the beginning of a pick-up in some of the surveys, for instance … we’ve got a modest pick-up this year which continues thereafter.

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A “technical recession” is when there are two quarters of consecutive negative growth in GDP, however some economists and statisticians argue the term is effectively meaningless, since growth by 0.1% or shrinking by 0.1% are virtually indistinguishable from flat-lining.

Earlier today prime minister Rishi Sunak told business leaders “I absolutely believe that the economy has turned the corner and we’re now pointing in the right direction.” [See 10.27am GMT]

Local journalist Kate Cronin from the Northamptonshire Telegraph appeared on BBC Radio Northampton this morning to talk about the campaign in Wellingborough. She made the point that with the recall of Peter Bone, the campaign had effectively been running since October and local journalists were “really glad to be on the home straight now”.

Cronin said it felt like the “eyes of the country” have been on Wellingborough, with a stream of visits to Labour candidate Gen Kitchen – “I think she’s had pretty much one MP visit every day” – and “the Reform candidate has had loads and loads of visitors” including Kate Hoey.

Cronin said that the Conservatives hadn’t had as many high profile visits – Rishi Sunak hasn’t been, unlike Keir Starmer – but that the Tories had “loads and loads of grassroots campaigners on the ground, trying to make up for that.”

She said that some of the local population had found it a little overwhelming, telling the BBC:

I think it’s been quite a lot for them. I know people who’ve been sort of venturing into the town centre, a bit tired of being accosted by a national newspaper journalist to ask him how they’re going to vote. But I think people ultimately are quite enjoying it because there’s just been so much coverage, and it’s often nice to have that focus on your area. So you can really shout about the things that you think are right or wrong.

Cronin felt it had been beneficial for the area, saying “it’s been really nice to … sort of shout about how great our area is, because I don’t think a lot of people know a lot about Northamptonshire, and we’re not that great about standing up and you know, telling people about how wonderful it is to live here and work here.”

She also gave a little bit of insight into what it is like covering the campaign, saying:

It’s going to be a nightmare for all of us, four of us from the Northants Telegraph are going to be covering the count. We’ve all got young children, it’s half term this week. So we’re going to be there from about nine o’clock tomorrow night. All night. We are praying there’s no recount.

And then we’ve all got to work on Friday. So I’m going to court on Friday, I’ve got a really big case to cover on Friday and then I’m going back up to my family on Saturday to see Preston North End beat Blackburn Rovers at Deepdale.

And for your info, on Friday we will have an early live blog with me to cover the reaction to the results, which we are expecting about 4am. I will be here from about 7am.

It became clear over the last couple of days that if I ever get the opportunity to include a picture of a ship in a live blog, I will. On Monday it was Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales actually setting sail from Portsmouth, and on Tuesday it was the Glen Sannox ferry on its first sea trials in Glasgow.

It turns out this is also true if I get the opportunity to post a picture of a giant tortoise, because the St Helena government has issued a photograph of speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle meeting Jonathan the tortoise, who is believed to be the oldest tortoise ever recorded. And the photo is so good I thought you would all enjoy it.

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PA Media reports Hoyle used the parliamentary recess to visit the south Atlantic island and UK overseas territory. Jonathan is thought to have hatched in 1832.

Hoyle is quoted as saying “As a massive animal lover, and owner of a three-stone tortoise, I have been really looking forward to meeting Jonathan and giving him the Guinness World Record for being the oldest recorded tortoise.”

While on St Helena the speaker also met with governor Nigel Phillips.

I had some coverage of the Kingswood byelection campaign earlier [See 13.35 GMT]. Wellingborough is the other constituency where people will be going to the polls tomorrow.

For the FT Lucy Fisher has visited the constituency, and writes:

Only a clutch of Conservative front- or backbenchers have appeared on the campaign trail, and even fewer have advertised their presence on social media. The Conservatives’ “air war” has also been quieter: the party’s candidate Helen Harrison last posted on X on January 11, and national media requests to interview her have been rejected.

Reform UK insiders believe they will be boosted by the “low visibility” Conservative campaign, as they hope to clinch at least 10 per cent of the vote on Thursday.

Ben Habib, its candidate in Wellingborough, said Labour and the Tories were viewed as “shades of grey” among locals. He said he had been buoyed by “lots of waves and lots of tooting of horns” when driving the party’s battle bus around the constituency.

Scott Miller, 54, the owner of a barbershop in Rushden, [said]. “My whole life I’ve voted Conservative, but I’m afraid this time for the by-election, I’m voting Reform,” he said, accusing Sunak of being “spineless”. He was among several local voters who said they had become interested in the party after watching right-leaning broadcaster GB News.

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ITV News Anglia have managed to get some rare words out of the Conservative candidate Harrison. Her partner Peter Bone has been campaigning alongside her, despite the fact that the byelection is happening after he was recalled from parliament by constituents in disgrace. Harrison told ITV:

When I’m out on the doorstep with Peter … we get a really warm reception. But people know that I’m a different person as well. Peter and I have campaigned on so many things together, but I’m Helen Harrison.

I’m a local person, I come from a health background, all my life I’ve given to helping other people so I bring a different perspective and that’s what people are going to get locally.

John Randall, a former Conservative minister, has warned his party “not be so dogmatic that we haven’t got an inch of humanity” over the Rwanda deportation bill.

Supporting an amendment in the House of Lords which would add exceptions for people who had served in the British armed forces and then sought refugee status in the UK, he said:

I’ve always been proud of this country, but if we reject looking after those who have put their lives at risk and many have suffered the ultimate sacrifice – if we do not allow them this, then I’m afraid I will not be so proud of this country, I will not be so proud of the party that I’m in. We must show humanity if we can call ourselves British.

Randall is chairman of the Human Trafficking Foundation

Former diplomat David Hannay added in front of peers that “our honour is at stake” in the way the UK deals with Afghan refugees who have served in the British armed forces or helped them.

Back on the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill debate in the House of Lords for a moment, and Graham Stirrup, former senior Royal Air Force commander and chief of defence staff, has argued in favour of an amendment which would exclude soldiers from foreign countries who have fought for the UK from being deported to Rwanda.

He told the unelected second chamber:

If global Britain is to be effective in the world, it will need to form partnerships with and gain support from people in all sorts of different parts of that world, often in very difficult and dangerous parts of that world.

In order to garner such support, it will need to be seen as trustworthy. How trustworthy does anybody think we will be seen if we have taken those who have already served us so faithfully in such difficult circumstances and sent them to Rwanda?

So for those who are not swayed by a sense of moral obligation, I ask you to consider the future effectiveness and safety of the men and women of our armed forces who are sent out to do such difficult and dangerous things in these parts of the world.

If you are interested in some local voices from the Kingswood constituency, which has a byelection tomorrow, then the Bristol Cable yesterday published this short 16 minute podcast where they spoke to people in the area, particularly around the high street, including one resident who said:

It’s a bit of a dump, and it’s got worse. It’s all charity shops. There’s the supermarket but that’s it. It’s rubbish. There needs to be something to bring people in … more interesting than sandwich shops and takeaways. They’re supposed to be rebuilding the entire centre. They keep talking about it and never doing it.

Local business owner Tony Tardio said:

The footfall isn’t as great as it used to be. When I first started, there used to be a market next door … and on a Thursday and Saturday the place would be heaving – the car park would be full. I’m still open, but I’m doing half of what I was doing about 12 years ago. It’s a throwaway society, so for me personally, I don’t think the good old days will come back. I’ve got to be happy with it, just ticking over and making a moderate living.

In the New Statesman, Anoosh Chakelian has also written a piece about the Kingswood byelection. She writes:

With a no-longer-comfortable Conservative majority of 11,220, it’s a tough seat for any politician to crack. “Speaking to the women [in the constituency], they’re doing exactly the same sort of jobs that my mum did – like shop work, dinner ladies, cleaners, that sort of job, but they are a lot poorer,” Damien Egan [Labour’s candidate] observed. “People are now going to foodbanks.”

Also top of voters’ minds are the lack of NHS dental places in the Bristol area, rising mortgage payments, and anti-social behaviour. Shoplifting is on the up, and there has been a spree of stabbings in Bristol.

Chakelian had less luck getting quotes from the Conservative candidate attempting to defend Chris Skidmore’s seat, noting that she “waited outside the constituency HQ, which bore nothing but frosted glass and a small printed A4 ‘closed’ sign. The lights were on but no one answered, and over about an hour there was no sign of the usual coming-and-going of stoic activists in anoraks clutching clipboards.”

She writes that “Their candidate, a local called Sam Bromiley, appears to be running a one-issue campaign against South Gloucestershire Council’s plans to build 8,000-odd houses on greenfield land.”

Earlier this week the Conservative government announced a series of proposed changes to the planning system to encourage developers to build more homes.

I did promise at the outset of today to avoid shoehorning in Valentine’s day references, left, right and centre-left, but I couldn’t make the promise apply to anybody else.

The Conservatives have launched a series of social media posts which they have dubbed the “Starmer Sutra”, attempting to illustrate various positions that the Labour leader has taken.

Labour, meanwhile, are sending out 17,000 Valentine’s cards in the Kingswood constituency campaigning for Damien Egan.

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The government is “undermining” the UK’s modern slavery protections with the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, a Conservative former minister has claimed.

John Gummer, a Tory former environment secretary who sits in the House of Lords as Lord Deben, was speaking in favour of a series of amendments to the Bill aimed at ensuring that Rwanda is not conclusively considered a safe country for unaccompanied children, and victims of modern slavery and human trafficking.

Lord Deben told peers:

I must say I am a bit tired of having to remind this government of what it means to be a Conservative. I have had to do that earlier on, on the single market, and I am now doing it on this.

We have a reputation in the world because of our Modern Slavery Act. It was a brave and important thing to do. It was welcomed across the whole House.

I am proud that it was a Conservative government that did this, I am not proud that there is a Conservative government undermining that when we know that more than three quarters of those who appeal in these circumstances are found to be right in their appeal.

I think those of us who sit in our comfortable places might just think on Ash Wednesday that this is a moment to reach out to those who are uncomfortable and are not able to speak up for themselves, and there are few people who are in a worse position than these.

So on what possible moral basis do you threaten to send them to a country which has not signed up to the international agreement on modern slavery, to a country which has twice as many modern slaves as we do and we admit that we have many whom we have not traced, to a country which has a history of ignoring this problem? How on earth can we defend that on a moral basis, leave alone a practical basis?

What the blazes is the use of claiming that there is a deterrent effect when the person you are talking about is not in a position to be deterred because they have been taken up by someone who has made those decisions for them?

Victims of modern slavery and human trafficking should be protected from removal to Rwanda, a former top judge has told the government.

Baroness Butler-Sloss, the first female Lord Justice of Appeal, argued for this to be added to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill as peers continued their line-by-line scrutiny on Wednesday.

The independent crossbench peer told the House of Lords:

The Modern Slavery Act is an outstanding piece of legislation by, for goodness sake, a Conservative government. We were all extremely proud of it, it was copied in Australia and in other countries.

The government asserts, without evidence, that the system of assessing whether a person is a genuine victim is being abused. But the figures from the NRM (National Referral Mechanism) show that the majority of those going through the system are found to be genuine.

Noting that modern slavery protections no longer apply to “those trafficked into this country for exploitation here”, she argued this will have “a devastating effect on victims and also on the United Kingdom’s ability to deal with the perpetrators of this heinous crime”.

Butler-Sloss, who is also the vice chairwoman of the Human Trafficking Foundation, urged the government to accept her amendment to show “some support to those who are or are about to be victims of a hugely profitable and odious trade in men, women and children”.

14 Feb 202407.46 EST

Steven Morris

The Guardian’s Steven Morris has interviewed Wales’ economy minister, Vaughan Gething, who is battling to become the leader of Welsh Labour, and thus the first minister of Wales, as well as the country’s first black leader next month.

Gething said of his candidacy:

You can’t deny the historic nature of it. I think I should win because I’m the best candidate. I’ve got loads of experience. I’ve got values rooted in our movement. I was a trade union shop steward, Wales TUC president, had 10 years as an employment lawyer and I have a vision for the future. But if I win, the fact that I’ll be the first black leader of any European nation is a matter of historic significance.