Jenrick to be ‘more radical’ on illegal migration – latest

Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt have “fiscal space” to avoid cuts to public spending in the next mini-Budget, an economic think tank has said.

The prime minister and chancellor also have the chance to provide help with the cost of living crisis without busting the government’s tax-and-spend rules, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says.

In a report released today, the IPPR said that cuts to spending are not inevitable, but would represent a “political choice” to return to the austerity pursued by Conservative governments in the “lost decade” of the 2010s, risking lasting harm to livelihoods and growth.

The think tank said Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt can safely spend an additional £42bn on support with energy bills over the coming year without fuelling inflation – and can increase that by a further £40bn if they are willing to extend windfall taxes on oil and gas giants and impose a wealth tax on the rich.

The chancellor plans to fill a black hole of up to £50bn in public finances through a mixture of tax rises and spending cuts, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph. The report also said Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt yesterday agreed tp freeze the thresholds at which people start to pay the different rates of income tax and national insurance.

Robert Jenrick has insisted that the Manston site is “fit for purpose” as he admitted that people were staying for longer than legally permitted.

The immigration minister told Sky News: “We do not have the right to detain anybody for more than 24 hours.

“A site like Manson needs to operate within the law. I have been completely clear to my officials that’s what we must do.

“We must ensure that this site returns to not just a legal way of operating but a humane and compassionate way as quickly as possible.”

He also said the “root casue” of the trouble at Manston was not the government but the rise in channel crossings.

LBC’s Charlotte Lynch reports that a senior Home Office source said Suella Braverman refused to approve hotel rooms for migrants to be moved into from the overcrowded Manston processing facility “because they were in Tory areas”.

The home secretary only approved three hotels last week in Labour constituencies, LBC reported that sources close to Manston claimed.

Ms Braverman yesterday strongly denied claims she ignored legal advice and rejected calls by officials to procure more hotel accommodation for migrants. She said she had agreed to the use of more than 30 hotels.

The claims in LBC’s report raise the question of the political motivations behind the choice of hotels.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick promised a “more radical” approach to illegal migration.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We will I’m afraid now need to look at some more radical options to ensure that our laws are appropriate, that economic migrants are returned swiftly, and that we deter people from coming to the UK, because the United Kingdom cannot continue to be a magnet for economic migrants.”

Mr Jenrick was speaking after Suella Braverman, head of his department as home secretary, said Britain was facing an “invasion on our southern coast” due to increasing number of channel crossings.

The immigration minister distanced himself from Ms Braverman’s “invasion” claim but said channel crossing posed a “very, very significant” challenge.

Mr Jenrick did not give details of what radical measures could be taken. Ms Braverman has previously suggested banning people who arrive across the channel in small boats from claiming asylum.

This chart shows the cumulative successful crossings of the Channel by people in small boats over the last three years.

Home secretary Suella Braverman has been heavily criticised for referring to the rising number of crossings as an invasion.

The immigration minister has declined to repeat Suella Braverman’s claim of an “invasion” of asylum seekers across the Channel, after fierce criticism of her inflammatory language (Rob Merrick writes).

The scandal-hit home secretary has been accused of putting lives at risk with the rhetoric of the far-right – immediately echoed by Nigel Farage – one day after the firebombing of a refugee centre in Dover

Robert Jenrick was asked if he would use the word “invasion”, but replied: “In a job like mine, you have to choose your words very carefully

“I would never demonise people coming to this country in pursuit of a better life and I understand and appreciate our obligation to refugees.”

Asked if Ms Braverman was “wrong” to use the word, Mr Jenrick told Sky News: “I think invasion is a way of describing the sheer scale of the challenge and that is what Suella Braverman was trying to express.”

BP has revealed that profits more than doubled over the past quarter (Zoe Tidman writes).

The London-listed oil giant reported that underlying replacement cost profits – a measure preferred by BP – surged to $8.2 bn (£7.1 bn), compared with $3.3bn (£2.9bn) a year earlier.

It was significantly ahead of the $6.1bn (£5.3bn) expected by market analysts.

The report comes amid calls for a higher windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas giants.

Suella Braverman has been accused of putting lives at risk after claiming the south coast was facing an “invasion” by migrants, the day after a firebomb attack in Dover (Kate Devlin writes).

Refugee charities described the embattled home secretary’s comments as “heinous” and “dehumanising”, while Labour accused her of “highly irresponsible” language that did not take public safety seriously.

The row erupted as prime minister Rishi Sunak came under growing pressure over his decision to reappoint Ms Braverman to the role last week, just days after she resigned for breaking the ministerial code.

The Treasury has reportedly warned of “inevitable” tax rises as prime minister Rishi Sunak moves to fill a “black hole” of up to £50bn in public finances.

Mr Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt yesterday agreed to freeze the thresholds at which people start to pay the different rates of income tax and national insurance, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Mr Hunt is looking to fill the shortfall through a combination of 50 per cent tax rises and 50 per cent public spending cuts in his Autumn Statement of November 17, the paper said.

The Treasury said that “everybody would need to contribute more in tax in the years ahead”, without providing further details.

“It is going to be rough,” a Treasury source told the BBC.

“The truth is that everybody will need to contribute more in tax if we are to maintain public services.”

Given the scale of borrowing for energy bills support and the Covid-19 pandemic, the source said the department “won’t be able to fill the fiscal black hole through spending cuts alone”.