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Watch as Sunak faces Starmer at PMQs after winning Rwanda vote

Oliver Browning
Wednesday 13 December 2023 11:44 GMT
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Watch as Rishi Sunak faces questions from Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday 13 December, after winning a crunch vote on the Safety of Rwanda Bill last night.

The prime minister spent the day in talks with potential rebels to avoid a defeat on his flagship “stop the boats” pledge.

His effort to bring people on side worked, with MPs approving the bill at second reading by 313 votes to 269, giving the government a winning majority of 44.

But right-wing Tory factions said they reserved the right to vote against the draft law when it returns to the House of Commons next year if its contents are not strengthened to ensure asylum seekers can be deported to Rwanda before the next election.

Dozens abstained but no Tory MP voted against the bill, with former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg among those to back it.

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