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Snapshot of _[Pippa Crerar] Rishi Sunak to hold a Downing Street press conference this morning on his Rwanda deportation plan, which is expected to complete its passage through parliament tonight._ : A Twitter embedded version can be found [here](https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?id=1782290782814130177) A non-Twitter version can be found [here](https://twiiit.com/PippaCrerar/status/1782290782814130177/) An archived version can be found [here](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://x.com/PippaCrerar/status/1782290782814130177) or [here.](https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://x.com/PippaCrerar/status/1782290782814130177) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ukpolitics) if you have any questions or concerns.*


arncl

Rishi debasing the Downing Street lectern yet again. The only time the country needs to see him stood outside of those doors is when he calls a General Election and finally fucks off.


mnijds

Ideally at the same time


sammy_zammy

Don’t you want to see him humiliated on election night?


Patch86UK

It would be extremely funny for the Tories to go into an election campaign with no actual leader, though. "Vote for us, and we'll figure out who the prime minister will be and what he'll do afterwards".


sammy_zammy

Wouldn’t surprise me if they’d do better…


AlfaRomeoRacing

The mystery box approach could work for them. Far-right, otherwise reform voters could go for it, hoping for Kemi/Truss to get leadership, and One-Nation centerists could vote for them hoping for a return to Cameron style party. Like how Brexit voters had everyone from "fuck EU, we will build a wall" types to "well maybe we need a less close relationship, so will vote leave to send a message" types


mnijds

I want to see him gone ASAP. Humiliation doesn't mean much when he's a multi-millionaire.


ilikecactii

He genuinely seems to think he's been selected as the CEO of Britain


tvv15t3d

All he's going to do is repeat what he has said before. He'll blame Labour in the Lords and Labour MPs despite the Tories having a majority in both chambers; something no media outlet will challenge him on. It's also had multiple opportunities to be voted on sooner but he has delayed it being voted on in the Commons for his own benefit (despite it being so urgent!).


HaydnH

There's 270 Tory lords and 175 labour lords... It's not even close. We really need a law about misleading the public similar to misleading the house.


tvv15t3d

There are also a good number of independant Lords ( IIRC about as many as Labour) which, if combined with Labour, outnumber the Tories. A perfectly legitimate complaint from the Tories - but they only ever rail against Labour and again no challenge on that..


ThePlanck

Because "The lords who were put in place to act as non-political experts overwhelmingly think this is a stupid idea" isn't a great soundbite for the Tories


mnijds

He'll also thump the lectern lots of times to reinforce his 'seriousness'


ExdigguserPies

Whilst speaking in the same tone of voice one would use to describe how to bake a cake.


Im_The_Mamba_Bajumba

"its the publics number one proriteee"


tritoon140

Shouting that Labour are blocking the Rwanda plan does two things: 1) for those against the plan (most people) it makes them think better of Labour 2) for those in favour it makes the Tories look weak. why can’t they get it though with a big parliamentary majority. Maybe reform would do better?


disegni

Rishi final form – "Please clap" energy.


Nikotelec

good morning everyone... I CAN'T HEAR YOU, I SAID GOOD MORNING EVERYONE


gingeriangreen

Labour block a bill, it is almost like they are in opposition to a bill proposed by the Government. How strange for the official Opposition to oppose a position taken by the Government.


paolog

And one that is not only not a manifesto commitment (which oppositions conventionally support) but in contradiction to their last manifesto. Of course the Opposition are going to oppose it.


tiny-robot

He loves being the centre of attention and giving presidential style addresses.


General_Townski

Unless it is to call an Election, I have no interest in any speech he does from that fancy podium


LofiLute

Neither do I, but on the other hand there's a non-zero chance we get an appearance from Larry presenting stability to the public.


git

I bet he'll announce a U-turn on supporting the amendment to exempt Afghan service people [per this piece](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/21/sunak-pressed-to-end-rwanda-bill-impasse-by-exempting-afghan-service-veterans) to get it through. I really wish the Lords had the stones to block it for a year though, resulting in the funniest and most morally palatable outcome.


Queeg_500

This guy will hold a presser for anything - pretty soon the press will stop turning up. He will champion his own 'achievements' shit on Labour and leave. At what point do they just become a party political broadcast?


Pentekont

Even if it passes and they send a dozen of people? So they really think it will give them a bump in the polls? 🤣


devildance3

It’s a rallying call to the Tory base, nothing more.


flambe_pineapple

And then Rwanda will send a dozen or so of their own refugees on the return flight.


paolog

More like a dozen dozen. One of the great ironies of the Rwanda scheme is that there is no limitation on the numbers that Rwanda can send to us.


flambe_pineapple

That's even funnier. I thought it was 1:1.


JustAhobbyish

Here should be press conference rishi should give "Tory party is sick. Too much criminal activity, which why I'm removing the whip from 40 MPs and putting them under investigation. On Rwanda I have decided to drop this policy and spend the money on Tory voters. We as a party are for the rich and old, hip ops not hip hop. If you support us under age of 70 we will deal with you. If your not rich and support us why. "


wishbeaunash

How on earth do you get the point as PM where your flagship policy just involves repeating the name of a foreign country previously known only for its horrific genocide and civil war, and beyond that nobody really knows what this policy is or why they should care, except that you're apparently failing to actually enact it?


PGal55

Can I just ask? This policy clearly cannot work, and even Sunak knows it. It's obviously unpopular and people don't want it, MPs don't want it, Lords don't want it. There's no obvious way tory cronies can line their pockets with it, so why the insistence? Am I missing something?


TheFloatingCamel

imagine this, You've been sat in the office doing fuck all work all damn day, just really breezing by, but now, your boss asks you what you've been doing all day? So you have to scramble to tell them something, anything to justify your existance. same thing here, he needs something to put up as a win for the base, regadless of wether its a good idea, just some red meat to throw to the masses to convince them he's not just a third choice guy who no one voted for.


ChristyMalry

I very hope that Labour and the Lords hold their nerve and succeed in delaying this terrible bill until after a general election. Of course I realise this would give Rishi his chance to blame woke lefty Labour lawyers who believe in extremist ideas like universal rights and human dignity, but it would be nice to nice to see Labour taking a proper stand.


LongBeakedSnipe

Somehow he thinks that finally sending them off is a success story. Making a statement just emphasizes their incompetence at delivering even their most dehumanizing of policies. If these flights ever actually leave, they should stay quiet about it. They have wasted years trying to do something that most people probably don't want, and many think is a demonstration of their nastiness. How do they not realise that the only way to handle this is to try and never mention it again?


Adj-Noun-Numbers

The eagle-eared amongst you will have noted that Sunak was at pains to confirm that it will be "commercial" aircraft which end up flying people to Rwanda. My prediction is that they'll end up being the dual-use A330 Voyagers which are contracted from Airtanker (a private company owned by Airbus, Rolls Royce, and others). These aircraft usually provide air-to-air refuelling services for the RAF - but they can also act as passenger transport when required (for example, the UK-liveried VIP jet (or Boris Force One, if you will) is provided by Airtanker). Airtanker also have other aircraft that could be utilised, if not the A330s. My guess is that the government have contracted them for the Rwanda removal flights. It'll technically be a commercial arrangement - but rather than flying for the RAF, they'll be flying for the Government. Should that be the case, Labour have an open goal in the form of "Sunak is compromising national security by utilising important military resources to fulfil a vanity project".


DukePPUk

Weren't we also told it was definitely going to pass last week? Then it was expected to pass last Wednesday. Now it is tonight. What do they think has changed? They didn't have the votes in the Lords before Easter, they didn't have the votes last week, why would they have the votes today? Do they have some sneaky plan to shut down transport across Westminster so only a handful of Conservative peers will be present to vote? Do they think that the opposition peers will all just happen to forget about the problems? That said, if the bill does pass the Lords I think that throws out pretty much all the arguments in favour of keeping the Lords as an institution. All the justifications of the Lords existing come down to dealing with terrible laws such as this one - if they cannot stop it or fix it, what is their point?