00:00 I think the fact is that Sonac emerges from this process with less authority than he had
00:07 before and that wasn't an awful lot. So I think he has a very difficult number of months.
00:12 And of course what we're into is the election period. Immigration is a problem amongst his
00:19 own party and I think it's going to be an issue that will sort of dog him all the way
00:23 to election day because quite clearly he's made it a proclamation he's going to deal
00:28 with the small boats. What he does hope, I'm absolutely certain, is that a plane will take
00:32 off in the next few months. So you can sort of say he's had success but hey that's far
00:37 from certain.
00:38 The Rwanda Safety Bill successfully cleared its third reading this week, garnering support
00:43 from 320 MPs while facing opposition from 276, providing the government with a substantial
00:52 majority of 44. Notably 11 Conservative MPs including former Home Secretary Soheila Braverman
00:59 voted against the bill. Here's what Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had to say in his press
01:05 conference.
01:06 This bill passed with an overwhelming majority in Parliament. But more broadly, last year
01:12 was difficult. Difficult for the country. We're still recovering from the impacts of
01:15 Covid, the legacy of backlogs in our public services, also the impact of the war in Ukraine
01:21 on people's bills.
01:22 Well despite those claims by the Prime Minister, his party continues to fare badly in the opinion
01:27 polls. A so-called mega-poll this week predicted that the Conservatives would retain only 169
01:34 seats at the next election. That's 196 fewer than their 2019 total. While the poll suggested
01:41 Labour would take 385, the Liberal Democrats 48 and the SNP 25.
01:47 They're talking about a 120 seat majority for Labour. So it's a landslide of proportions.
01:53 Not quite as great as happened in 1997 under Tony Blair. But nonetheless the Conservatives
02:00 on current form are in for a bit of a kicking.
02:03 But coming back to the issue of UK reform, or the reform UK I should say, that they're
02:08 likely to take away something like 97 seats. So quite clearly as a consequence of tactical
02:14 voting. So therefore there is a good argument, and this is what the right wingers say, if
02:19 we become more like UK reform, or if they push Rishi Sunak to steal some of their policies,
02:26 then of course maybe they'll capture some of these voters. So there is a lot to be played
02:29 for but I suspect that Rishi Sunak has said he's still like, this is as far as he dare
02:34 goes.
02:35 While immigration is expected to play big in campaigning for the next election, it's
02:40 still the cost of living crisis that is dominating public opinion.
02:45 It's about the fact that people feel no better off, and in many cases worse off than they
02:49 did last time. And I point out as people will remember, the last general election was fought
02:55 on getting Brexit done, which of course was the pronouncement from a certain Boris Johnson.
03:00 Now of course the thing is though, people do not feel better off.
03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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