Rishi Sunak shelves flagship Rwanda and smoking policies before election

Keir Starmer says Tory plans ‘up in the air or in the bin’, with proposals to end no-fault evictions also likely to be dropped

Rishi Sunak has dropped flagship policies on deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda and banning smoking for young people on the first full day of his election campaign, leaving his legacy increasingly threadbare.

Ministers confirmed that key pieces of legislation that could be rushed through by MPs before parliament is suspended were likely to be dropped, including plans to end no-fault evictions and to introduce new media laws and a football regulator.