Boris Johnson news- live: PM diverts attention to ‘illegal migrants’ as he faces ‘three more Partygate fines’

Enver Solomon, of the Refugee Council, described the government’s plans to process asylum requests after sending them offshores in Rwanda as “cruel and nasty” and said it would do little to deter people from coming to the UK, only leading to “more human suffering and chaos”.

Describing the government decision to offshore the asylum seekers in Rwanda as “unworkable, unethical and extortionate”, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper warned that it would cost the UK taxpayer billions of pounds during a cost of living crisis and would make it “harder, not easier” to get fast and fair asylum decisions.

She slammed the announcement as a “desperate and shameful” attempt by Mr Johnson to “distract from his own law-breaking” and from the “collapse” of the Home Office’s decision-making on asylum claims, which sees thousands waiting for more than a year for a decision.

Ministers have for the first time signed a deal to send asylum seekers arriving in the UK to another country to have their cases processed, in a move experts warn will encourage people traffickers.

Boris Johnson is set to announce an agreement with Rwanda that will see migrants “offshored” more than 4,000 miles away to the landlocked African country while they wait for an asylum decision from the Home Office.

It is understood that the Rwandan government will be paid an initial cost of £120m under the deal, which will be funded by the British taxpayer.

The prime minister is expected to set out the plans in a speech on Thursday morning, stating:“Our compassion may be infinite, but our capacity to help people is not.

“The British people voted several times to control our borders – not to close them, but to control them. So just as Brexit allowed us to take back control of legal immigration by replacing free movement with our points-based system, we are also taking back control of illegal immigration, with a long-term plan for asylum in this country.”

Our social affairs correspondent May Bulman reports.

Boris Johnson faces three more police fines for breaching Covid lockdown rules, according to media reports.

He is set to be penalised for attending a leaving party for his former director of communications, Lee Cain, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The event on 13 November “is considered to be the most serious breach of the coronavirus regulations among the events that the prime minister attended,” an unnamed source close to the investigation told the newspaper.

While Mr Johnson was fined by police police for attending his birthday party during lockdown, insiders say the event for which the PM has been punished is seen as less serious than others yet to be fully investigated.

Those include a May 2020 summer party, a gathering in November in Mr Johnson’s flat with his wife on the day of Dominic Cummings’ departure, and the leaving event Mr Cain.

Read the details in this report by Eleanor Sly.

At first glance, it seems Boris Johnson might survive this latest revelation in the long-running Partygate scandal.

The few Tory MPs who withdrew their letters to the backbench committee calling for Johnson to quit are not changing their mind.

Andrew Bridgen, for example, has repeated his belief that the war in Ukraine means this is not the moment.

The UK’s deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, has commented on the resignation of the justice minister.

He thanked David Wolfson”for his remarkable work in improving families’ access to mediation, reforming our human rights laws and curtailing the abuse of our libel laws by kleptocrats.”

Mr Raab went on to add: “His wisdom & intellect will be sorely missed in govt.”

See the full tweet below:

Actor Dan Stevens shocked viewers by responding to a question about his latest work by launching a savage attack on Boris Johnson, branding the prime minister a “criminal” who shold resign after he was fined for breaking his own Covid laws.

The Downton Abbey star appeared on the BBC’s The One Show to discuss Gaslita new US drama series – about the Watergate scandal – which he stars in opposite Hollywood giants Julia Roberts and Sean Penn.

Focusing on some of the lesser-told stories that brought Richard Nixon’s criminality to light, the limited series, produced by Universal, predominantly centres on Nixon’s infamously loyal attorney general John Mitchell and his wife, Martha, who became a whistleblower.

The prime minister has responded to the resignation of Justice minister Lord Wolfson.

The PM thanked Lord Wolfson for his work but gave no mention of why Lord Wolfson had resigned.

Read the full letter below:

British actor Dan Stevens shocked BBC viewers on Wednesday night when he responded to a question about his latest work by launching an attack on Boris Johnson after he was fined for breaking Covid laws.

The former Downton Abbey star appeared on BBC1’s long-running One Show to discuss Gaslita new US drama series – about the Watergate scandal – that he stars in opposite Hollywood giants Julia Roberts and Sean Penn.

Asked to introduce “the take” on the well-known story by presenter Alex Jones, Mr Stevens replied: “Well what you’ve got is a criminal for a leader, who is wrapped in a messy war, embroiled in a stupid scandal and surrounded by ambitious idiots, and really should resign.”

He then paused and looked mockingly concerned as he continued: “No, I’m sorry that’s the intro to Boris Johnson. I’ve just said the intro to Boris Johnson, I’m so sorry.”

Both Ms Jones and her co-presenter Jermaine Jenas looked speechless when Mr Stevens made the remark, with Mr Jenas going as far as looking away from the camera to let out a chuckle.

He then composed himself and got on with explaining the plot to his new series, having already sent ripples through social media.