Will Tory MPs rebel over small boats bill?

Rishi Sunak faces a mounting Conservative backlash over his asylum crackdown. Adam Forrest takes a closer look at whether rebels can change the legislation

Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman face opposition (EPA)

Nothing unites the Conservative Party quite like Gary Lineker’s tweets. Tory MPs have been universal in their outrage about the Match of the Day star after he appeared to compare the government’s asylum rhetoric to Nazi Germany.

But as the Linker row rumbles on, some senior Tories are asking serious questions and sharing serious doubts about the plan to detain and deport the migrants continuing to cross the English Channel in rubber dinghies.

The vast majority of Conservative backbenchers support the aim of cracking down on small boat crossings, and most were willing to back a ban on asylum claims from small boat arrivals. “We have to try something,” as one desperate MP told me as the legislation was introduced last week.