Rishi Sunak faces new Rwanda revolt from Tory left in fresh party turmoil - live
Moderates say they could join right-wing MPs in pushing PM to change migrants deportation bill
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Rishi Sunak has been hit by a fresh headache on his flagship Rwanda bill, as senior Conservatives on the left said they would join right-wing rebels in pushing for changes ahead of an expected second vote in January.
The embattled PM had believed he could count on Tory MPs in the moderate “One Nation” wing, as he fights to appease their rivals on the right who are demanding tougher deportation legislation.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk suggested the government would not cede to right-wingers by toughening up the bill, despite their threats to vote it down.
But, as No 10 prepares for crunch talks with the right-wingers over Christmas, senior Tory moderates told The Independent they were considering how to amend the bill to soften it.
Earlier, Sir Keir Starmer mocked Tory MPs who criticised Rishi Sunak in the press in PMQs.
The Labour leader goaded the Tory benches, saying: “Come on, come on. Who was it who said he’s a really bad politician? Hands up.”
Meanwhile, Mark Drakeford announced he was standing down as Welsh Labour leader, triggering a contest to find his successor.
Sunak in ‘last chance saloon’ with Rwanda policy, says Tory peer
Tory peer Lord Greenhalgh, a key Boris Johnson ally, has warned his party that a failure to deport sufficient numbers of suspected illegal migrants to Rwanda would be “a disaster for the government.”
The right-winger told GB News: “This is the last chance saloon for these flights to take off before a general election. And I can’t say when but if this bill doesn’t pass, obviously it’s not going to happen this side of the election.”
The peer reiterated comments by ex-immigration Robert Jenrick, who said one or two “symbolic” Rwanda flights would not be good enough. Lord Greenhalgh said that it “we get a third plane that is empty, having spent many hundreds of millions on the policy … that will be electoral disaster for the Conservatives.”
Mark Harper says Sunak will ‘continue listening’ to Tory MPs about Rwanda Bill
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will “continue listening” to Conservative MPs about possible amendments to his Safety of Rwanda Bill.
He told LBC: “All Conservative MPs want to deal with this.
“We’ll continue listening to colleagues if colleagues have got ideas about how to strengthen the Bill and improve it consistent with international law and with keeping Rwanda onside, who’ve made it clear that they want us to stick with international law.
“There’s no point having a Bill without a partner country to send people to.
“So, within those constraints, we’ve made it very clear the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister will continue listening to colleagues, working with them.
“Conservative colleagues want to try and get this done, so that we can start removing people to Rwanda so we can break the back of those (people smuggling) groups. Labour has no plan at all.”
Could ‘One Nation’ Tories try to amend Rwanda bill?
The One Nation moderate wing of the Tory party is assumed to be happy to keep supporting Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill – so long as he doesn’t toughen it up under pressure from the right.
But one senior Tory MP in the One Nation moderate wing of the party told The Times that they plan to bring forward a “wrecking” amendment in the new year.
They are said to hope that it will win backing from Labour, a move that could make life very difficult for Mr Sunak
Sunak must stick to ‘narrow landing strip’, says One Nation Tory leader
Sunak must stick to ‘narrow landing strip’, says One Nation Tory leaderModerate Conservative MPs in the One Nation caucus agreed to back the bill this week – but have stressed that they will resist any amendments from the Tory right that would risk the UK breaching the rule of law.
Damian Green, the group’s chairman, told Newsnight the PM had secured a “pretty solid” majority for his proposal and that he hoped the “third reading would go through reasonably easily”.
“On today’s vote, the government has more or less managed the narrow landing strip that it is aiming at, and so it should stick to that landing strip,” the senior Tory moderate said.
UK heading for ‘clash’ with European judges over Rwanda bill, says Lord Sumption
Former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption predicted that there is likely to be a “clash” with European judges over the bill, something that would likely enrage Rishi Sunak’s Tory critics.
Lord Sumption told BBC’s Newsnight that the bill “is contrary to international law” because it seeks to “block people off from access to the courts”.
The senior legal figure – whom the government had claimed approved of the bill – added: “Sooner or later there may be a clash with the Strasbourg (European) Court of Human Rights.”
Tory rebels won’t kill our Rwanda bill in new year, home secretary insists
Home secretary James Cleverly has claimed Tory rebels won’t kill Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill in the new year – insisting that the faction-riven party is still “united”.
The PM faces a January showdown over his flagship deportation legislation after right-wing Tory MPs threatened to vote it down if it is not toughed up.
Mr Sunak managed to survive a crunch first vote after spending the day in talks with potential rebels – with MPs approving the bill by 313 votes to 269.
Our political correspondent Adam Forrest reports:
Tory rebels won’t kill our Rwanda bill, James Cleverly insists
James Cleverly says government ‘willing to listen’, as Tory right threatens to ‘kill the bill’ after Christmas
Cleverly will ‘harvest’ Tory right ideas to improve legislation
James Cleverly suggested killing the Rwanda Bill is not “the best way” for potential rebels on the Tory right to act over concerns that the legislation is too weak.
Asked about European Research Group chairman Mark Francois’s objections of the legislation, the Home Secretary told Sky News: “I will talk to Mark and I’ll talk to others, of course, to understand their thinking on this and try to harvest their ideas to make things better.
“But I can’t see if someone’s got a concern that the Bill might not be as strong as they would like, killing the Bill doesn’t strike me as the best way of doing that, because if the Bill isn’t on the statute books it can’t possibly succeed.”
Mr Cleverly was asked about a YouGov poll suggesting only 1% of voters think the plan will work, to which he replied: “I’d like to prove them wrong. My job is to demonstrate this will work as part of an overall plan which is already working.”
Asked how long it would take before planes are taking off to Kigali, he said: “We’ve got to get this Bill through the House of Commons and the House of Lords. That will take some time.”
Home secretary denies Rwanda Bill will be killed next year
James Cleverly denied that the Government’s Rwanda Bill would be killed next year.
When it was put to him that right-wing Conservatives would vote the legislation down, the Home Secretary told Sky News: “That’s your assertion, I don’t agree.
“It is part of, but not the only part, of a range of measures that we are taking.”
James Cleverly says it is ‘absolutely wrong’ to say a lot of Tories do not work the Rwanda Bill to work
Home Secretary James Cleverly said it was “absolutely wrong” to say that a lot of Tories do not want the Government’s Rwanda Bill to work as he inisted the Conservative Party is “united” in its desire to get the legislation right.
He said: “We of course are more than willing to listen to good faith amendments that are designed to make the Bill better, keep it within the bounds of international law, keep it in a state that the Rwandans are happy to work with.”
Put to him that “a lot of Tories” do not want the legislation to work, he told Sky News: “No, this is absolutely wrong. The Conservative Party is united on the desire to get this right and to stop the boats.
“The Labour Party’s position is to try and wreck it.”
Tories look ‘ungovernable’, admits Tory MP
Ben Bradley, the Conservative MP for Mansfield, suggested the Tories now appeared “ungovernable” after the Rwanda – where 29 colleagues refused to obey the whips by abstaining.
The right-winger, who backed the government, told BBC Newsnight: “We have been in government for 13 years. We have got a parliamentary party that has been built in all different directions, in different elections, by different leaders.
He added: “You might argue it’s kind of ungovernable. This situation suggests it’s certainly not easy to govern.”
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