UK

Analysis: Will a clash on asylum upset Anglo-Irish relations?

UK and Irish governments have butted heads over Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda policy

Rishi Sunak: The clash over Rwanda also comes as the prime minister prepares for a bruising encounter with voters in this week's local elections. Picture: Getty

The UK government, not for the first time, is sending mixed messages across the Irish Sea as a row over Rishi Sunak's Rwanda policy threatens to reverse the recent thaw in British-Irish relations.

The dispute between London and Dublin caught officials by surprise, with the widely criticised asylum policy dominating Monday's British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, the first to be held since power-sharing returned in Northern Ireland.

The origins of the row came as Sunak appeared to ...