UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke before Parliament on Monday night, urging them to vote in favor of the Rwanda asylum policy. The bill, which would allow the UK to refuse asylum to those who enter the country illegally, has garnered criticism from Tory party members who have warned that the scheme “won’t work.” Nevertheless, the government has already secured planes for deportation flights and hopes to see a “regular rhythm of multiple flights every month” over the summer and beyond. The controversy has made headlines in many of Tuesday’s papers.
The Independent reports that some MPs believe legal challenges will ground deportation flights, despite the bill’s passage. The Telegraph notes that Mr. Sunak has pledged the “summer and beyond” will see a regular “drum beat” of flights to remove illegal immigrants from the UK. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail features the headline “We’re ready for Rwanda lift-off,” stressing that the preparation for the flights has been “one of the most complex operational endeavors the Home Office has carried out.”
The Guardian’s lead story focuses on Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley, who praised the “professional conduct” of a sergeant embroiled in an anti-Semitism row with activist Gideon Falter last week. The Times reports that organized crime groups are infiltrating UK jails by getting associates hired as prison guards. The Mirror, meanwhile, reports a facial mapping expert’s finding that a man seen near TV presenter Jill Dando’s home at the time of her 1999 murder bears a striking resemblance to Serbian assassin Milorad Ulemek.
Finally, the Daily Star reports on Britain’s “hardest” seagull, nicknamed The Boss, who has been terrorizing residents of Liverpool by snatching their chippy teas. The FTSE 100 index reached a new all-time high, driven by a weaker pound and expected interest rate cuts that prompted boosted corporate valuations.
Though disparate, these stories speak to the many issues the UK faces today: an ongoing debate over immigration policy, police officers’ conduct, rising crime rates, unresolved homicides, and even the dreaded seagull menace
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