Published
17 minutes ago

Liverpool got the response they wanted from Mohamed Salah in their win over Tottenham. My only disappointment is that his performance came a couple of weeks too late.

I’m not suggesting Salah hasn’t been on top form because of an attitude problem, because I think it is a physical issue that has held him back in recent weeks.

But sometimes a row is as good as a rest when it comes to galvanising a player, and I am not surprised he followed last week’s touchline dispute with Jurgen Klopp with the kind of display we saw against Spurs.

I saw something similar happen with other players so many times during my career and, whenever and whoever it came from, the ability to react to criticism like that in the right way was very important for me personally as well.

A great example of that was on what was only my second start for Liverpool, against Manchester United at Old Trafford in 1998. Karl-Heinz Riedle got an injury on the day of the game, so I came in and played behind Michael Own in a kind of number 10 role.

I’d only just turned 21 and I was very nervous. I lost my first couple of balls with some poor touches and Paul Ince, who was our captain, absolutely annihilated me.

In my head, my natural response was to think ‘I’ll show you’. I ended up being man of the match in a 1-1 draw after playing a lot of the game on my own up front because Owen got sent off.

Of course, Salah is a superstar, not a young player who has just broken into the team. I am certainly not putting myself in the same category as him either, but my point is I think all players have a choice to make when they are criticised.

It seemed as if Klopp had a pop at Salah for something when he was about to come on against West Ham last week, then when he argued back the media and even few supporters have jumped on to have their say about how the player was in the wrong.

The best way - the only way, really - to react to something like that is to think ‘next game, I’ll show you’. Salah certainly did that.

He looked sharp right from the start against Spurs and although not everything came off for him, he hit the woodwork a couple of times and he also got his goal. Maybe he did not even head the ball where he wanted to when he made it 1-0, but he was a constant thorn in Tottenham’s side.

Like I said at the start, it is just a shame that it did not come in time to save Liverpool’s title bid, because they are not going to win the league from here.

Still, the good thing for any Liverpool fans looking ahead to next season and life without Klopp is that Salah looked like a player who was giving his all and trying to prove people wrong.

If he was miserable and unhappy and looking for a way out of the club, you would not have seen a response like that.

Salah turns 32 in June and has only one year left on his contract, so there has been plenty of speculation about his future, especially after what happened last week.

In an ideal world, he won’t leave. His reliability in front of goal is obvious and although he would bring in a big fee, replacing him and finding someone who guarantees the same numbers would be nigh on impossible.

He’s got that rare and wonderful attribute of scoring goals even when he is not playing that well, so I really hope he stays. But the reality is that he might not. He might fancy a new challenge which is the best thing for him and his family.

And as amazing as Salah is, I still think the number one priority for the new manager will be to secure Virgil van Dijk’s future.

Like Salah, Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are out of contract in the summer of 2025. I don’t think getting Trent signed up will be a problem because he is a local lad who loves Liverpool, but predicting Van Dijk’s next move is a lot harder.

Although the club is always bigger than any individual and there is always someone new to come in or come through, Van Dijk’s presence and ability means he is the one player they would miss more than any other.

When you look at Liverpool’s season as a whole then of course, for obvious reasons, there will be some disappointment about how things have turned out.

But there are also more positives than you might think because they have won a trophy, the Carabao Cup and got back into the Champions League spots, which was not a given after their previous campaign. And there is more to come from this team.

Whether you were the new manager or a fan watching Sunday’s game, it gave you plenty to look forward to with the performance of players such as Jarell Quansah, Cody Gakpo or Harvey Elliott, and also seeing Stefan Bajcetic come on after his long injury lay-off looking so comfortable on the ball.

Any manager coming in would be really excited at the prospect of working with young talent like that, but the balance of what you need around them on the pitch is epitomised by what Van Dijk brings to the team.

He is a cool and calm leader, who is also extremely durable – the only long lay-off he has had since he joined Liverpool in January 2018 was the cruciate ligament injury he sustained in a tackle by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, an incident which was in no way Van Dijk’s fault.

In Van Dijk’s time at Anfield, so many players have benefitted from his presence and that effect will continue as long as he stays there.

That’s what makes him even more important than Salah, and a new contract is crucial. Once that’s done, it gives you wonderful foundations for other players because you know he will guide and improve those coming in.

Danny Murphy was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.

More open conversations about dying should become the norm to better support people at the end of their lives, health experts and carers say.

It comes as charity Hospice UK launches a week-long campaign focusing on the language we use around death.

Abi Jenkins, who cared for a friend with terminal cancer, said "normalising" death and dying might help people.

"We have this really weird taboo around death," she said.

Ms Jenkins was an end-of-life carer for Erin Corner, who died of ampullary cancer in January, aged 31.

Ms Corner, who had also lost her youngest son Zac in a caravan fire in 2020, had written birthday and wedding cards for her two surviving sons before her death.

Abi said she offered practical help, but also helped Ms Corner navigate her end-of-life care.

The 40-year-old, from Holyhead, Anglesey, said she and Erin, from Pontrhydfendigaid, Ceredigion, grew close following Zac's death.

"She knew how she wanted to die. We talked about what she wanted that to look like," Ms Jenkins said.

She said Ms Corner might have made some different decisions had she been better informed about things like sedation and terminal agitation, which can occur in the final days before death and leads to patients becoming restless and anxious.

"Lots of the stuff that happened, we had no idea that that was going to happen," she said.

"We need to talk about it, whether we like it or not."

"There should be far more discussion," Ms Jenkins said. "People don't know what to say. They draw back."

Conversations she had with nurses helped Ms Corner with the care she was receiving, Ms Jenkins said, but also made her realise how ill-informed many people are when it comes to palliative care.

Laura Hugman, clinical team manager at Tŷ Paul Sartori, which offers a hospice at home service in Pembrokeshire, agreed there was a taboo around death that was sometimes unhelpful.

"It's a challenge. I don't think we're very good at talking about dying at all," she said.

How much people want to know about dying itself is "a real mix and a personal choice", she said.

She said it was key for people to know what services were available, particularly at a time when accessing a GP is not always easy.

Mark Taubert, a consultant in palliative medicine at Velindre University NHS Trust in Cardiff, said it was important to let patients know gently what might happen to them, but also how good planning could provide them with better care.

In his experience, 95% of patients want more detail about what will happen to them towards the end of their lives.

"Improving the language and getting the message across in a much clearer way is important," he said.

But the approach needs to be individual for every patient and every family, he added, with some patients less willing to hear certain details than others.

"If they feel in control of the conversation about end-of-life care and the future... that can be very, very helpful," said Dr Taubert.

"You nearly need an end-of-life palliative care 'personal assistant' who is 'bespoke' to you."

Dr Taubert said there was a tendency among many patients and their loved ones towards constant positivity "battle" language, praising the patient for "fighting" and "being strong".

But such language can be problematic as people near the end of their lives, in his view.

"When you're tired, all your hair has fallen out, you're feeling nauseous and you're in pain, then the battle language I think lets you down a bit," he said.

"You need a trusted person to be able to confide in and to talk to and let out these things," he said.

Signalling to patients - even when they are not yet dying - that a conversation about end-of-life would be useful to have in the near future can help them prepare for it and get family members involved, he said.

Ms Hugman said Tŷ Paul Sartori nurses provide information to carers about nutrition and mobility in a patient's final days.

The charity, which helps 40 to 50 patients a week by offering respite visits, also makes sure discussions around managing pain relief take place, ensuring patients and carers understand the extent to which that will affect the patient's cognition.

Family members were often very protective of each other, Ms Hugman said, sometimes making it hard to have open conversations.

"People don't want to come near death and dying... people are never quite ready to think about it," she said.

Ultimately, there's no right or wrong way to look after a bereaved family, said Ms Hugman.

"It always comes as a shock when someone passes away, even if the family is completely prepared."

Published
1 hour ago

Tottenham Hotspur walked out at Liverpool with the door ajar for their Champions League hopes, only for Ange Postecoglou’s fading side to trip and fall flat on their faces at Anfield.

Do not be fooled by the 4-2 scoreline in Liverpool's favour. It was flattery, doing Spurs a kindness their overall performance did not merit.

It must also not deceive anyone in the Spurs camp as the dramatic decline, in a season that held much promise and optimism at one time, continues its sharp downward curve at a crucial point.

Handed the opportunity to close a seven-point game on fourth-placed Aston Villa after they slipped up at Brighton, it made a woeful, passive approach - that played into Liverpool’s hands for the first 70 minutes - even more mystifying.

The only moment of serious aggression came as Spurs walked off at half-time 2-0 down and keeper Guglielmo Vicario added to his catalogue of stops by stepping in swiftly to separate what threatened to turn into an ugly spat between team-mates Cristian Romero and Emerson Royal.

Spurs were 4-0 down after an hour but spared further embarrassment by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s host of rhythm-disrupting changes, plus the sudden sloppiness of a side overcome by complacency because of the simplicity of their task.

Richarlison and Heung-min Son struck to raise some anxiety inside Anfield, but Postecoglou cannot be kidded by another display with brutally exposed the flaws in his approach – one the Australian seemingly has no intention of changing.

It is a high-risk strategy in all respects but his defiant stance on his ideology makes it look like a chance he is prepared to take. Best of luck to him.

Postecoglou’s upbeat post-match message was presumably the result of a desire not to give his players another lashing after his broadside last week at Chelsea, where they were beaten 2-0.

It was “glass half-full” analysis of a poor show, hopefully a gallant attempt to keep spirits up otherwise it veered dangerously close to delusion.

The wheels have fallen off the 'Big Ange' bandwagon in recent weeks and, for all his efforts at expectation management, there must still be disappointment if Spurs, as looks likely, miss out to Villa on the top four and Champions League football.

Yes, it is an improvement on last season. Yes, it is relatively early days in the Postecoglou project. Yes, they have been more pleasing on the eye than under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte (not difficult admittedly) but when the pressure was on they failed to deliver again.

Spurs have shown the old lack of self-belief, hence why the frailties in their set-up - that make them far too easy to play and score against - have been brought into much sharper relief.

At their peak this season, they were top of the table on 3 November with 26 points after eight wins and two draws in their first 10 games. It seems an age ago now.

Spurs were vulnerable even when winning, but the glow of the change of mentality and tactics under the former Celtic manager meant the positive strategy that warmed fans far outweighed concerns about the chances they were conceding.

It has been scrappy for a while, as a return of 34 points from their next 25 games has proved.

Postecoglou has a point when he uses the early seasons of managers, such as Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, as an indicator of how progress can be a slow burner, but glaring problems have arisen as the season has gone on.

It would be ridiculous to suggest Spurs would not miss the world-class talent and influence of all-time record goalscorer Harry Kane after his departure to Bayern Munich. He was as close to irreplaceable as it gets and how they could have done with him. Yet Postecoglou, to his credit, has never used that as a mitigating circumstance for the recent slide.

In fact, given just how important Kane was to everything Spurs did, it can be argued they have actually done well to get to fifth in the Premier League table without him.

James Maddison, outstanding early in the season, has gone off the boil completely and was only introduced as a substitute at Anfield.

It all made for a fourth successive league loss, their longest since a sequence of six defeats back in November 2004. Spurs have only kept two clean sheets in their last 26 league games. It is not to see why when you watch games such as this and recent losses to Newcastle United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

Postecoglou’s first campaign will be viewed in a positive light no matter what happens between now and the end of the season, if only for banishing some of the memories of the stodge served up by predecessors Mourinho and Conte.

Most Spurs supporters are still very much aboard that Postecoglou bandwagon despite its breakdowns. He cannot realistically be expected to sweep away years of under-achievement in a single campaign.

The last few weeks, though, have been abysmal and no amount of polish can disguise that. It might be against his nature but surely there will be added pragmatism otherwise Spurs will always carry an air of vulnerability.

No Champions League football will have the feeling of another missed opportunity despite an improvement in their league placing – and this effort was just another bad Anfield memory.

Postecoglou is always keen stress there is so much more to do at Spurs before they are anywhere near what he wants. On this evidence he is not wrong.

Published
1 hour ago

Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson says the "damage was done" in the first half as his side were beaten 38-26 by Toulouse in their debut Investec Champions Cup semi-final.

Quins trailed 31-12 at the break before reducing the deficit to five points in the second half and threatening an upset against the five-time winners at Stadium de Toulouse.

Jack Walker's yellow card stunted their progress minutes before Toulouse finally broke Quins' resistance to score their first points of the second half as Juan Cruz Mallia claimed their sixth try of the match.

"We got done at the breakdown and they counter-rucked and turned us over," Wilson told BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.

"When you go through a lot of phases like we do to break teams down, you are in trouble when your breakdown is not really good.

"The best teams don’t just turn you over, they score off the turnover and that really hurt us.

"Maybe the yellow card was a moment when the momentum went away from us. I can understand the decision by the letter of the law but it was a key moment and they scored immediately to get a cushion."

Toulouse scored five first-half tries and were cruising until Quins hit back through Cadan Murley and Tyrone Green.

Wilson says he is "proud" of his players for mounting a comeback.

"We looked like Quins again [in the second half], sorted our breakdown problems out, got some speed of ball and every time we got into their 22 we looked like we would score," he added.

"It’s the first time the club has ever been in a European semi-final so it was always going to be about learnings.

"Most of the learnings are positive ones. It shows we are on the right course. I’m proud of what we’ve done but a part of you will always look at it and think about what we could have done."

Former England flanker Jack Willis won the Top 14 title with Toulouse last season while victory over Quins moves him and his team-mates one game closer to a league and Champions Cup double this year.

The French side will face Leinster in the final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 25 May, and Willis says Toulouse have "lots of work to do" if they are to add a record-extending sixth star to their jersey.

"It’s amazing to be in the final, I can’t wait for it," Willis said.

"The speed we play at and the way we can score tries is great, we just have to make sure the discipline is better because we gave Quins access through that.

"The guys stayed pretty calm and collected and knew we could work our way back up the field.

"It’ll be a big game against Leinster, and I’m chuffed to be a part of it."

Willis is currently ineligible to add to his 14 Test caps because of a Rugby Football Union (RFU) rule which only allows Premiership players to be picked for England, but the 27-year-old says he is "grateful" to be part of the Toulouse set-up.

"It’s an incredible team and an incredible place to play rugby," added Willis.

"The atmosphere is incredible and even the walk-in [to the stadium], there were people banging on the bus and flares going off. It really gets you going for a game like this."

More than 300 people have attended a vigil to pay tribute to Daniel Anjorin, a teenager who was fatally stabbed with a sword while on his way to school.

The 14-year-old was attacked in Hainault, north-east London, on Tuesday morning.

On Sunday, mourners gathered metres away from where Daniel was killed, at Hainault Underground station car park, to pay their respects.

Daniel's family was not present at the vigil.

Harris, a 17-year-old boy who knew Daniel, told the crowd: "He was a kid that was not in any type of trouble. I'm not just saying that.

"He never did anything wrong. He focused on school, he got good grades, he (went) to church.

"His family are appreciating all your support. They've noticed everything you guys are doing community-wise, fundraiser-wise, Arsenal as well. They've noticed it all.

"On their behalf, thank all of you."

Arsenal, the football team Daniel supported, paid tribute to him during their Premier League game at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

During the match there was also a moment of applause in the 14th minute, with a banner reading "RIP Daniel" among the crowd.

Bouquets of flowers, handwritten notes, Arsenal FC memorabilia and teddies have been left at the bottom of Laing Close in Hainault, as well as a painting of Daniel.

A family friend said the number of floral tributes left showed the outpouring of support from the whole country.

Alistair Soyode said people had come from "near and far" to pay their respects and offer solidarity.

"The flowers that have been laid are not just coming from one section of the community," he said.

"This is a full representation of what the United Kingdom is. Different people from different communities, nationalities, are showing their sympathies and prayers by laying flowers in this spot."

In a statement issued by the Met Police, his parent's said: "We as a family are devastated by the loss of our beloved son Daniel.

"It is difficult for us at this time to process what has happened to him and that he will never come home. Daniel had left the house for school and then he was gone.

"Our children have lost their loving and precious brother and we have lost the most loved and amazing son."

His school, Bancroft's, in Woodford Green, said he was a "true scholar" who had a "positive nature and gentle character".

In a statement, it described him as a "core member" of the community, adding: "Losing such a young pupil is something we will always struggle to come to terms with."

Marcus Arduini Monzo, 36, from Newham, east London, has been charged with murdering Daniel.

He has also been charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary, and possession of a bladed article.

He was remanded in custody and will next appear in court at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk

Published
57 minutes ago

Manager David Moyes said he feels "really sorry" for West Ham fans after watching his side fall to a 5-0 loss at the hands of Chelsea.

West Ham have conceded five goals in each of their last two away games, losing 5-2 against Crystal Palace on 21 April, and are now almost certain to miss out on a fourth successive season in European competition.

They have won just one of their last eight fixtures in the Premier League, losing four times during that sequence, although they did draw with Liverpool last time out.

"The fans have been great but I feel bad for them," Moyes told Sky Sports.

"I don't normally have teams who get beaten like this but we are lacking some ingredients - mental toughness and leadership to get better results, or at least not get hammered.

"The fans played their part and I can only say I'm really sorry for how it played out."

It is the latest bump in the road during a rocky season for Moyes, who appears to be on his way out after West Ham held talks with former Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui earlier this week.

Moyes, 61, returned for his second stint in charge of West Ham in December 2019 and has overseen a largely positive period in the club's history.

The Scot led the Hammers to the Europa League semi-final in 2021-22 and they went on to win the Europa Conference League in 2022-23, ending a 43-year wait for a major trophy.

But his days appear to be numbered with the current campaign fizzling out and widespread frustration among the fanbase.

The sheer amount of goals conceded, 70, has left them fighting a losing battle, with only Burnley (74), Luton (78) and Sheffield United, who all sit in the bottom three, holding a worse defensive record.

"We've had too many games this season where we haven't shown any toughness, togetherness, leadership, or taken ownership of the performance," Moyes said.

"I'm the manager so I take ownership of that but sometimes the players have to take responsibility as well."

Published
24 minutes ago

Investec Champions Cup semi-final

Toulouse: (31) 38

Tries: Lebel, Mauvaka, Flament, Dupont 2, Mallia Cons: Kinghorn 3, Ramos

Harlequins: (12) 26

Tries: Smith, Evans, Murley, Green Cons: Smith 3

Toulouse had to withstand a spirited second-half fightback to beat Harlequins and book their place in a first Investec Champions Cup final for three years.

The five-time winners cruised into a healthy lead in the south of France after five tries in the opening 40 minutes from Matthis Lebel, Peato Mauvaka, Thibaud Flament and two for talisman Antoine Dupont.

Quins had crossed through Marcus Smith and Will Evans but trailed by 19 points at the break before testing Toulouse's resolve with tries by Cadan Murley and Tyrone Green.

The visitors reduced the deficit to five points and could smell an upset at a nervy Stadium de Toulouse before Jack Walker was sent to the sin bin for making direct head contact with Dupont.

Toulouse, with the player advantage, immediately punished the hooker as Juan Cruz Mallia scored in the corner to register the hosts' first points of the half and break Quins' resistance.

The Top 14 side will face four-time winners Leinster in the final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Saturday, 25 May.

More to follow.

Toulouse: Kinghorn; Cruz Mallia, Costes, Ahki, Lebel; Ntamack, Dupont (capt); Baille, Mauvaka, Aldegheri, Flament, Meafou, Cros, Willis, Roumat.

Replacements: Marchand, Neti, Merkler, Arnold, Castro-Ferreira, Graou, Chocobares, Ramos.

Harlequins: Green; Lynagh, Northmore, Esterhuizen, Murley; Smith, Care; Baxter, Walker, Collier, Herbst, Lewies (capt), Cunningham-South, Evans, Dombrandt.

Replacements: Riley, Marler, Kerrod, Hammond, Chisholm, Porter, Evans, Beard.

Actor Bernard Hill, best known for roles in Titanic and Lord of the Rings, has died aged 79.

He played Captain Edward Smith in the 1997 Oscar-winning film and King Théoden in the Lord of the Rings.

His breakout role was in BBC TV drama Boys from the Blackstuff, where he portrayed Yosser Hughes, a character who struggled - and often failed - to cope with unemployment in Liverpool.

He died early on Sunday morning, his agent Lou Coulson confirmed.

Tributes to Hill have been coming in since the news of his death broke.

Writing on X, Scottish musician Barbara Dickson said he was "a really marvellous actor", adding: "It was a privilege to have crossed paths with him. RIP Benny x."

Hill, who was from Manchester, was due to return to TV screens in series two of The Responder, a BBC drama starring Martin Freeman, which begins airing on Sunday.

Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, paid tribute to him, saying: "Bernard Hill blazed a trail across the screen, and his long-lasting career filled with iconic and remarkable roles is a testament to his incredible talent."

"From Boys from the Blackstuff, to Wolf Hall, The Responder, and many more, we feel truly honoured to have worked with Bernard at the BBC. Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this sad time."

In Boys from the Blackstuff, Hill drew praise for his gritty portrayal of Yosser Hughes, an intense and memorable character who pleaded "Gizza job" as he sought work.

That show won a Bafta for best drama series in 1983, and in 2000 it was ranked seventh on a British Film Institute list of the best TV shows ever made.

Another of Hill's memorable BBC TV performances came in the 2015 drama series Wolf Hall, adapted from Hilary Mantel's book about the court of Henry VIII. Hill portrayed the Duke of Norfolk - an uncle of Anne Boleyn and an enemy of Cardinal Wolsey.

Hill was also much loved for his performances in Peter Jackson's epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings.

He joined the cast for the second film, 2002's The Two Towers, and returned to the franchise for 2003's The Return Of The King, which picked up 11 Oscars.

Other roles in his decades-long career included the 1976 BBC TV series I, Claudius, an appearance in 1982's Gandhi, Shirley Valentine in 1989, The Scorpion King in 2002 and 2008 Tom Cruise film Valkyrie.

Hill was meant to be at Comic Con Liverpool on Saturday, but had to cancel at the last minute, the convention said in a post on X. As news of his death broke, the organisers said on the platform they were "heartbroken" at Hill's death, and wished his family "a lot of strength".

Rwanda has admitted it cannot guarantee how many people it will take from the UK under Rishi Sunak’s deportation scheme.

The east African country did not give assurances that the estimated 52,000 asylum seekers in the UK who are eligible to be sent to Kigali would be accepted, instead saying it would be “thousands”.

Yolande Makolo, a government spokesperson, also described suggestions Rwanda would initially welcome only 200 migrants as a “misconception”, on BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.

Makolo said: “We will be able to welcome the migrants that the UK sends over the lifetime of this partnership. What I cannot tell you is how many thousands we are taking in the first year or the second year. This will depend on very many factors that are being worked out right now.

“Journalists have been visiting the initial accommodation that we have secured since the beginning of the partnership. This is Hope Hostel. That particular facility is able to take up to 200 people.

“However, we have already started initial discussions with other facilities around Kigali and further afield and these will be firmed up and signed once we know how many migrants are coming and when they are coming,” she added. “So it has never been the case that we can only take 200 initially, that has been a misconception.”

The Rwanda scheme involves sending some asylum seekers who arrive in the UK via irregular routes, including small boat crossings via the Channel, to the east African country.

People sent to Rwanda will have their asylum claims processed there and, if successful, granted refugee status in the country. If unsuccessful, they could seek asylum in another “safe third country” or apply to settle in Rwanda on other grounds.

The controversial five-year deal was initially introduced under the former home secretary, Priti Patel, in 2022 to tackle the growing numbers of people crossing the Channel in small boats. However, it has faced several legal challenges, which have prevented flights from taking off to Kigali.

It is estimated the Rwanda scheme has cost at least £300m already.

Makolo told critics of the scheme to not attack Rwanda “unjustly” adding: “Living in Rwanda is not a punishment. It is a beautiful country, including the weather.”

Keir Starmer said Labour would not keep the Rwanda scheme if it wins the next election. Instead, its national campaign coordinator, Pat McFadden, said the party would spend the money set aside for the Rwanda scheme on a “proper operation to crack down on the criminal gangs”.

Responding to Makolo’s comments, Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: “This interview shows that more people have arrived in the last week than are likely to be sent to Rwanda over the next few years, and the Conservatives are just trying to con people with their failing plans.

“Today, we heard a stark admission that Rwanda can only take a tiny proportion of people who are arriving in the UK, yet the Government is spending half a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money on this scheme.”