‘Absolute horror’: Senior Tory attacks Rishi Sunak’s small boats bill

Tory rebellion brewing, as Caroline Nokes and other senior figures denounce child detention

Caroline Nokes became the first Conservative MP to say they would vote against Rishi Sunak’s asylum crackdown – saying the bill gives her “absolute horror”.

The former Tory minister she was “deeply troubled” at the prospect of a policy “which seeks to criminalise children, pregnant women, families and remove them to Rwanda”.

It has emerged that children who arrive in the UK on small boats will be detained in immigration centres under the plan – sparking a backlash among senior Conservatives.