Politics latest: Rishi Sunak giving news conference after defence spending pledge revealed (2024)

The Safety of Rwanda Bill has been passed by parliament, but it is yet to be implemented and flights are not expected to take off for several weeks.

Speaking to Sky News, Fran Heathcote - who is general secretary of the PCS union - suggests civil servants may not comply with the law and put people on planes.

"I think what it comes down to is staying within the law.

"What do you do if it's a civil servant whose job it is to implement government policy when you know that policy is illegal and is ultimately putting people's lives at risk."

She adds that members of the union "don't feel comfortable" doing what they have been asked, because it is "illegal" and "inhumane".

Asked specifically if civil servants may not comply with the Rwanda bill, Ms Heathcote said that "all options" are being explored.

She highlighted that a parliamentary report found the Rwanda bill was "fundamentally incompatible" with the UK's human rights obligations and places the country in "breach of international law".

As we reported a short while ago, Rishi Sunak is set to announce an increase in defence spending to 2.5% of national income by 2030 (see previous post).

The formal announcement is expected to be made in a press conference alongside NATO's secretary general this afternoon.

Reaction is starting to come in to the news, and it has been warmly welcomed by the former armed forces minister.

James Heappey MP wrote on X: "All eyes on the PM's press conference. This is ENORMOUS news and hugely needed in the MoD [Ministry of Defence].

By Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor

The UK will increase defence spending to 2.5% of national income by 2030, the prime minister is will to announce, in a hardening of military policy at a time of growing threats.

The rise is less ambitious than some insiders say is needed, but it will mean tens of billions of additional pounds for the armed forces over the next six years.

Rishi Sunak had previously said any extra investment would only happen when economic conditions allow. That caveat is set to be removed.

The UK move comes at a time of escalating threats to global security posed by Russia's war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East and an ever-more assertive China.

The "world is less safe than it has been in decades", the prime minister said, speaking earlier in the day on a trip to Poland, where he also revealed a new package of weapons, ammunition and £500m in funds for the Ukrainian armed forces (read his full comments here).

The UK currently spends just over 2% of GDP on defence, but it has recently started to include the money used to support Ukraine against Russia's full-scale invasion to boost – critics say artificially - this figure.

The expectation is that the rise in defence spending over the next six years would only be dedicated to the core Ministry of Defence budget - amounting to a total of tens of billions of pounds of additional money in total.

Defence insiders have long warned that new investment is urgently required to fill yawning gaps in capability across the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force after decades of cost-saving cuts made by successive governments since the end of the Cold War.

There is also a need to revamp the ability to defend the homeland.

We've just been hearing from our political editor Beth Rigbywho has travelled to Poland with the prime minister.

She spoke to us from a military base where Rishi Sunak will meet with NATO's secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, followed by a joint press conference, which will come amid speculation the PM is set to make a bigger announcement on UK defence spending.

Beth said the PM is in Europe "to argue the case for increased funding for Ukraine, to see of the threat of an expansionist Russia".

The NATO defence spending target is 2% of GDP, and both Poland and the UK spend slightly above that, but Beth said given the chancellor was also on the plane, there is "speculation about whether the prime minister is about to make a bigger announcement on increasing defence spending".

"He's been under lots of pressure back at home to do so - we will find out later.

"But really, this is about the prime minister trying to refocus the eyes of the world back onto Ukraine, back onto that war with Russia as Europe sees this expansionist aggression on its borders".

She noted this trip and the announcement follow the US House of Representatives finally agreeing a vast package of support for Ukraine after months of delay.

Watch Beth's full report from Warsaw here:

The deputy head of the armed forces will become the UK's next national security adviser - marking the first time a senior military officer has held the powerful position.

General Gwyn Jenkins, a former director of special forces, will replace Sir Tim Barrow, who has reportedly been lined up to become the next British ambassador to the United States.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that General Jenkins would be taking on the national security role during a trip to Poland on Tuesday.

"I'm really pleased that Gwyn is going to do this job - in an incredibly uncertain and increasingly dangerous world, it's important the person doing this job has the requisite set of skills to provide advice to me and to help navigate that landscape," he told reporters.

The Royal Marines officer, who is close to Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the UK's top military officer, has previously spent time working at Number 10 and had a brief stint as a deputy national security adviser. He is currently Vice Chief of the Defence Staff.

Mr Sunak said: "I'd just point out it's the first time we've had someone with a military background... we need someone in that job who can blend a range of different skills together, diplomatic, intelligence, military operations.

"I have worked with Gwyn very closely since I've been PM - he's first rate, the country is lucky to his service, the government is very lucky to have his advice and I'm really pleased he's going to be doing this job."

Referring to Sir Tim, the prime minister said: "I'm very grateful to Tim - who's here, who I've worked very closely with since I've done this job.... he's been at the heart of foreign policy with me and really strengthening the UK's alliances and making sure we are involved and engaged and influential on the world stage. So I am grateful to Tim."

Not everyone inside defence, however, was instantly happy with the announcement of the appointment of General Jenkins to the national security post.

"It could be good news but there's open astonishment from many," one defence source said, claiming that General Jenkins had been an advocate of cutting the strength of the armed forces.

A second source said: "He's a decent man, but… he's a tactician… Courageous, bold... but those are the qualities of tactician, not strategist.

"His knowledge of strategic themes is very limited, and he seems dismissive of it. A bad sign."

The PM said yesterday that the government aims to start flights to Rwanda in the next 10-12 weeks, which means approximately early July.

There has been speculation that this might mean Rishi Sunak could decide to have the general election in July.

Asked by journalists on the plane to Poland if he would rule that out, he refused to do so - twice.

Mr Sunak said: "All I'm going to say is the same thing I say every time - as I said I think it was in the first week of January, my working assumption is an election in the second half of the year."

July is, of course, the seventh month in the year, so were he to announce an election for then, it would be consistent with what he has said.

By Beth Rigby, political editor, in Poland

Rishi Sunak warned the world is now "more volatile and dangerous" than at any time since the Cold War, as the prime minister embarked on a trip to Poland and Germany to discuss the threat of expansionist Russia and refocus the world's eyes back on to Ukraine.

Speaking to journalists on the flight over to Poland, the prime minister said we were "unfortunately living in a world that is more dangerous than we've known it in decade, probably more dangerous than the end of the Cold War", adding that this was why it was "important in that we do invest more in our defence and that's what we've been doing".

"My first priority is to keep people safe, and you're right, I have been honest with people that the world is less safe than it has been in decades and my job, indeed my obligation, is to invest to keep the country safe, and that's what I'm doing."

Announcing a further £500m of military support being sent to Ukraine - taking the UK's total support this year to £3bn - the prime minister told journalists he was "proud" the UK had led on supporting Ukraine and also told European allies it was "important" for Europeans to invest in security in these volatile times.

"We're stepping up because that is what the situation demands and requires," he said.

"And if we are joined by other European partners in that it is important that Europeans invest in their own security," he told Sky News.

Read the full story here:

By Adam Parsons, Europe Correspondent

The Human Rights Commissioner at the Council of Europe, which includes the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), has criticised the government's Rwanda's bill, saying it "raises major concerns" and has called for key clauses to be reversed.

Michael O'Flaherty, said he was "concerned" about the new law and said the British government should "refrain from removing people under the Rwanda policy".

Mr O'Flaherty, an Irishman who has spent his career working in the field of human rights, took over the role of commissioner earlier this month.

His role is to monitor human rights across the 46 members of the Council of Europe, and to make recommendations.

Although he is impartial, and not connected to the ECHR, the court is part of the Council of Europe.

He said: "Managing asylum and migration is undoubtedly a complex endeavour for states, but it must always be done in full compliance with international standards.

"In this regard, I am concerned that the Rwanda bill enables the implementation of a policy of removing people to Rwanda without any prior assessment of their asylum claims by UK authorities in the majority of cases.

"The United Kingdom government should refrain from removing people under the Rwanda policy and reverse the bill's effective infringement of judicial independence."

He said there was still a danger of migrants being deported from Rwanda back to countries from which they had fled - contrary to international law - and criticised the idea that ministers could decide whether or not to adhere to rulings by the EHCR, saying they are "binding".

He claimed that the Rwanda bill was part of a wider move, among European nations, to "externalise" asylum and migration policy, which he claimed, was "a matter of concern for the global system of protection of the rights of refugees".