Ken Clarke Warns Rwanda Bill Moves UK Towards An ‘Elected Dictatorship’

Ken Clarke has blasted Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill, warning that overturning a Supreme Court ruling is “very dangerous” amid fears of the UK slipping into an “elected dictatorship”.

The Tory grandee, seen as a leading figure on the liberal wing of the party, has previously backed the deportation policy, arguing no-one had a better solution to the problem caused by small boats.

But the former chancellor now thinks the policy has hit a “brick wall” after being vetoed by the Supreme Court.

In the Lords, Clarke said that the government over-riding the court risked a situation where “you claim that the colour black is the same as the colour white, all dogs are cats”.

He said: “If we pass this bill, we are asserting as a matter of law that Rwanda is a safe country for this purpose, that it is always going to be a safe country for this purpose until the law is changed.

“And the courts may not even consider any evidence brought before them to try to demonstrate that it’s not a safe country.

“This is a very dangerous constitutional provision.

“I hope it will be challenged properly in the court because we have an unwritten constitution, but it gets more and more important that we do make sure that the powers are in this country are controlled by some constitutional limits and are subject to the rule of law.

“Claiming the sovereignty of parliament … you claim that the colour black is the same as the colour white, all dogs are cats, more seriously that someone who’s been acquitted of a criminal charge is guilty of that criminal charge and should be returned to the courts for sentence.

“Where are the limits?

“I always fear as time goes by in my career, echoes of the warnings that (former lord chancellor) Quintin Hailsham used to give us all about the risks of moving towards an elected dictatorship in this country.

“The sovereignty of parliament has its limits, which are the limits of the rule of law, the separation of powers and what ought to be the constitutional limits on any branch of government in a liberal democratic society such as ours.”

Speaking during the bill’s second reading debate in the Lords, the Tory peer said the bill was “a step too far for me”.

He added: “And I don’t think I can possibly support the bill unless it is substantially amended as it goes through this house and we should urge the Commons to revise it.”

It came as the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill cleared its first major hurdle in the House of Lords, after peers voted 206 to 84, majority 122, against a motion designed to block it

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Ken Clarke Says Kwasi Kwarteng’s Tax Cuts Are Like Something Out Of Latin America

Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax giveaway for the rich would not have looked out of place in Latin America and could lead to economic meltdown, according to Ken Clarke.

The Tory grandee – who served as chancellor under John Major – said the decision to scrap the 45p tax rate for high earners could send inflation even higher and cause the value of the pound to collapse.

Kwarteng unveiled a £45 billion package of tax cuts in Friday’s mini-budget, which he said would lead to increased economic growth.

But Clarke, who quit parliament in 2019 after nearly 50 years as an MP, said they would not work.

He told Radio Four’s ‘World At One’ programme: “I don’t accept – I never have, the Conservative party never has – the overall premise of the budget, which is that you make tax cuts for the wealthiest 5 per cent, and it makes them work so much harder, and [there’s a] rush to invest.

“I’m afraid that’s the kind of thing that’s usually tried in Latin American countries without success.

“I do not think you stimulate growth by cutting taxes on the better-off, or taxes on business. If it was so simple, we would have got rid of taxes all together some time ago.

“What the increased spending power … is going to do is run the risk of further stimulating inflation. And we’re going into a serious inflationary recession this winter.”

Kwarteng is paying for the tax cuts by piling another £70 billion on the national debt, which Clarke said was now too high.

He said: “We’re heading in the Italian direction. That is going to be a problem, a very great problem, in the short term if it leads to a collapse in the pound and the loss of confidence in our economy. We’re going to drive investment away, not attract it.

“I don’t think anybody I was ever in government with would have contemplated a budget like this.”

The scrapping of the 45p rate means that those earning more than a million pounds will save £55,000 on their tax bill.

Kwarteng this morning defended his mini-budget, and suggested more tax cuts were on the way.

He said: “We’ve got to have a much more front-footed approach to growth and that’s what my Friday statement was all about.

“I think that if we can get some of the reforms … if we get business back on its feet, we can get this country moving and we can grow our economy, and that’s what my focus is 100 per cent about.”

Labour leader Keir Starmer said he would bring back the 45p tax rate if he becomes prime minister.

He said: “I do not think that the choice to have tax cuts for those that are earning hundreds if thousands of pounds is the right choice when our economy is struggling the way it is, working people are struggling the way they are and our public services are on their knees. So it is the wrong choice.

“I would reverse the decision that they made on Friday, let’s be absolutely clear about that.”

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