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       Sunak claims Cummings would have ‘nothing to do’ with his government in campaign speech

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       Rishi Sunak has refused to back his home secretary’s target to bring the number of small boats crossing the channel to zero this year.

       No 10 said the prime minister would not set a deadline for delivering his pledge to stop the boats.

       Earlier James Cleverly was asked what his target was for crossings this year and told LBC Radio: “Well, my target is to bring it down to zero. I mean, I’m completely committed…”

       Asked if he was referring specifically to 2024, he said: “That’s my target. My target is to reduce it to zero, to stop the boats. And I’m unambiguous about that.”

       The prime minister’s official spokesman said the two men were united in wanting to stop the crossings.

       But he would not repeat Mr Cleverly’s target. Pushed on the 2024 target, the spokesman said the PM wanted to “stop the boats as soon as possible” but he would not “set out a deadline”.

       Key Points Sunak refuses to back Cleverly’s target of stopping all small boats this year Cleverly says asylum backlog cleared but Labour slams ‘false’ claim Sunak holds secret election meetings with Cummings Lib Dems call for talks to be investigated by ethics chief Pair discussed ‘nuclear weapons’ and other policy areas

       Show latest update 5 hours ago

       We’re finishing up our live politics coverage for today.

       Thanks for reading and join us again soon for all the latest news from Westminster and elsewhere.

       Have a good evening.

       Matt Mathers 2 January 2024 16:05

       11 hours ago

       Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live politics coverage.

       Rishi Sunak is facing calls for an inquiry into secret meetings he held with Dominic Cummings.

       The Lib Dems want the prime minister’s independent ethics adviser to probe whether the talks, which were not logged on official records, broke the ministerial code.

       We’ll have updates on this story and others from Westminster and elsewhere throughout the day.

       Stay tuned for all the latest updates.

       Matt Mathers 2 January 2024 09:24

       11 hours ago What are the meetings all about?

       Dominic Cummings has claimed he and Rishi Sunak held top secret meetings as the PM considered bringing him back into the fold ahead of the next general election.

       The PM reportedly asked Boris Johnson’s ex-chief aide for advice on winning over the public as he pushed for a “secret deal” with Mr Cummings to help the Tories “smash” Labour in 2024.

       Full report:

       Cummings claims he secretly met with Sunak about possible return PM branded ‘weak and desperate’, as Boris Johnson’s ex-adviser reveals Tory leader asked for advice on how to ‘smash’ Labour

       Matt Mathers 2 January 2024 09:28

       11 hours ago ICYMI: Tory MPs share horror over Sunak’s ‘secret election talks’ with Cummings

       Conservative MPs have expressed their horror at claims that Rishi Sunak held secret talks with Dominic Cummings about the former senior adviser to Boris Johnson making a return to government.

       Mr Cummings has claimed that Mr Sunak sought a “secret deal” with him in a bid to “smash” Labour and win the looming general election.

       Adam Forrest reports:

       Tory MPs share horror over Sunak’s ‘secret election talks’ with Cummings ‘Never bring an arsonist into your home,’ Conservative MPs warn their leader

       Matt Mathers 2 January 2024 09:29

       11 hours ago Watch: Sunak claims Cummings would have ‘nothing to do’ with his government in campaign speech

       Sunak claims Cummings would have ‘nothing to do’ with his government in campaign speech

       Matt Mathers 2 January 2024 09:31

       11 hours ago James Cleverly apologises for joking about spiking his wife with date rape drug

       James Cleverly said he regrets making a joke about spiking his wife’s drink with a date rape drug and should never have said it.

       The home secretary made the joke last month just hours after announcing plans to crack down on the issue.

       Mr Cleverly talked about putting “a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night,” adding that it was “not really illegal if it’s only a little bit”.

       Archie Mitchell reports:

       James Cleverly apologises over date rape joke A testy home secretary batted off questions about his recent controversial remarks, telling a BBC presenter ‘you need to do better research’

       Matt Mathers 2 January 2024 09:56

       11 hours ago Sunak claims to have cleared backlog of legacy asylum claims

       Rishi Sunak has claimed to have cleared the backlog of older legacy asylum claims but figures reveal that 4,500 cases are still waiting for a decision, Holly Bancroft reports.

       New data released by the Home Office shows that all cases in the legacy backlog have now been reviewed, with 86,800 decisions made, but thousands of more complex cases are still waiting for the additional checks or investigation needed for a final decision.

       The government have also processed around 25,300 newer asylum claims, in addition to the legacy cases, taking the total number of decisions made in the past year to over 112,000.

       Government data published on Tuesday showed that the legacy backlog was drastically cut in the last few months of last year. There were 33,253 decisions left to make in October, but this fell to 4,537 by 28 December.

       The Prime Minister praised his Government’s ‘relentless action’ after the Government insisted it met a target to clear a backlog of asylum claims (PA)

       (PA Wire)

       Matt Mathers 2 January 2024 10:06

       11 hours ago Labour attacks Tories with ‘tax calculator’ ahead of national insurance cut

       Labour has unveiled a “Tory tax calculator” tool to attack the Conservatives by letting voters check if their taxes are likely to rise even after a cut to national insurance takes effect.

       The party said that, even with a national insurance cut coming into force on January 6, families in Britain were still likely to be ￡1,200 a year worse off under Tory tax plans.

       Archie Mitchell reports:

       Labour announces ‘Tory tax calculator’ ahead of national insurance cut The Labour Party says voters will still be worse off even after the main rate of national insurance is reduced to 10 per cent on January 6

       Matt Mathers 2 January 2024 10:13

       10 hours ago Nearly 5,000 legacy asylum claims still ‘awaiting an initial decision’

       There were 4,537 asylum applications in the legacy backlog that were still “awaiting an initial decision” as of December 28 2023, provisional figures from the Home Office show.

       Asylum applications made before June 28 2022 are counted as legacy cases.

       The government had pledged to clear the legacy backlog by the end of 2023.

       This backlog stood at 100,548 at the end of June 2022, meaning it had been cut by 95 per cent as of December 28 2023.

       (PA)

       Matt Mathers 2 January 2024 10:27

       10 hours ago Ministers’ decisions made via WhatsApp ‘must be recorded’

       Ministerial decisions made via WhatsApp must be recorded, civil servants have been told in new guidance, Archie Mitchell reports.

       The Times reported that ministers’ private offices have been reminded of their “duty” to keep accurate records.

       It means decisions made using WhatsApp must be recorded, although the messages themselves do not need to be preserved.

       It comes after intense scrutiny of the use of WhatsApp at the top of government, with the Covid-19 inquiry highlighting the often-chaotic behind the scenes communications of senior officials and ministers.

       Rishi Sunak and his predecessor Boris Johnson have both failed to hand significant numbers of WhatsApp messages to the inquiry, blaming technical problems.

       Former prime minister Boris Johnson after giving evidence to the Covid inquiry (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

       (PA Wire)

       Matt Mathers 2 January 2024 10:45

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       1/ 1Sunak refuses to back Cleverly’s target of stopping all small boats

       Sunak refuses to back Cleverly’s target of stopping all small boats

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