Sunak 'bullying' Jewish peers during Passover over Rwanda bill
Rishi Sunak has been accused of "bullying" Jewish members of the House of Lords as he attempts to push through his controversial Rwanda bill.
One peer said the prime minister's insistence on both houses of Parliament sitting late into Monday was "extremely disrespectful" to Jewish members as the feast of Passover begins.
Sunak said the latest part of the Rwanda policy will pass Parliament today "no ifs, no buts", and that MPs and peers "will sit and vote no matter how late it goes".
He said the first flight carrying asylum seekers would leave for Rwanda in 10 to 12 weeks, with an airfield on standby and commercial charter planes booked.
However, crossbench peer Lord Carlile of Berriew told LBC Radio the government is being "extremely disrespectful" to Jewish members of the House of Lords for keeping them late as Passover begins.
“Given that this could have been postponed to tomorrow when I believe that most of the Jewish peers would have been willing to be there, I think he's being extremely disrespectful and very unwise," he said.
“The government bangs on about diversity in the community, but this is an example of diversity being ignored.
"This could have been respected and what is happening today is a form of bullying and it's entirely disrespectful, and the prime minister ought to be ashamed of himself."
In a separate interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lord Carlile said: "This is, in my view, the most inexplicable and insensitive day I’ve experienced in nearly 40 years in one or other House of Parliament."
Of the bill itself, he said: “This is something which is ill-judged, badly drafted, inappropriate, illegal in current UK and international law and the House of Lords is absolutely right to say, ‘We want to maintain our legal standards in this country and there are better ways of dealing with this problem anyway’.”
Yahoo News UK has approached Lord Carlile and Downing Street for comment.
What is Passover?
Passover celebrates the Biblical story of Exodus, in which Jews left slavery behind them when they were led out of Egypt by Moses.
Passover gets his name from Moses telling the Israelites they should mark their doorposts with lamb's blood so the angel of death would "pass over" their houses and spare them from the tenth and final of God's plagues sent to Egypt, the death of the firstborn son.
Passover is a spring festival which begins on the 15th day of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish calendar.
This year, Passover begins at sundown on the evening of Monday 22 April and ends on the evening of Tuesday 30 April for most Jews in the diaspora. For Jews in Israel, Passover ends on the evening of Monday 29 April.
What happens during Passover?
To mark the beginning of Passover, Jews have a service called a Seder, which takes place over a meal at home with family and friends.
The story of Exodus is told during the meal from a book called the Haggadah, with everyone taking a turn reading, some parts in Hebrew and some parts in English.
Everyone at the Seder has a cushion to lean on, a reminder that they are a free people and no longer enslaved. The main food of Passover is matzah, an unleavened bread.
