Corby MP Tom Pursglove receives new role in urgent reshuffle

Corby MP Tom Pursglove has been given a new ministerial role in the government in an urgent reshuffle by the Prime Minister.

Rishi Sunak has announced new ministerial positions after the resignation of immigration minister Robert Jenrick.

Jenrick resigned as immigration minister last night, saying the government's emergency Rwanda legislation, in its current drafting, ‘does not go far enough’.

The role of immigration minister has had its responsibilities split into two, with Tom Pursglove now the minister for legal migration and Michael Tomlinson, MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, taking the role of illegal migration minister.

The Prime Minister explained why he is taking the approach he is towards tackling illegal migration in a press conference this morning.

During the press conference, Sunak described his new bill to get the Rwanda policy off the ground as the ‘toughest immigration law ever’.

The new bill sets out to end the ‘legal merry-go-round’, stressing the sovereignty of parliament and saying that ‘unequivocally Rwanda is a safe country’.

The bill includes ‘notwithstanding clauses’, under which, our domestic courts will no longer be able to use any domestic or international law, including the Human Rights Act, to stop the removal of illegal migrants.

The Prime Minister said: “I will not allow a foreign court to block these flights. If the Strasbourg Court chooses to intervene against the express wishes of our sovereign parliament, I will do what is necessary to get flights off.

“Today’s new laws already make clear that the decision on whether to comply with interim measures issued by the European Court is a decision for British government ministers and British government ministers alone.”

Prior to his new appointment Tom Pursglove was Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work. No replacement has yet been announced for this role.