Critics of Sunak’s Rwanda Bill meet in Westminster to consider next moves
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is battling to exert his authority over a fractured and fractious party.
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Your support makes all the difference.Tory MPs demanding tougher legislation on the Rwanda plan are meeting in Westminster as Rishi Sunak faces a test of his authority.
The Prime Minister has been working to avert a rebellion but he faces resistance from the Tory right, with MPs calling for changes to the Safety of Rwanda Bill – which faces its first Commons test on Tuesday night.
Tories from the European Research Group (ERG) and four other factions were meeting in a Parliamentary committee room to decide on their next steps, with the prospect of a damaging revolt unless No 10 commits to amending the legislation.
But as hardliners on the Tory right pushed for measures to block interference from foreign courts, Home Secretary James Cleverly suggested the legislation was already close to the limits of what would be possible.
Would-be rebels have warned Mr Sunak that “major surgery” is still required to fix the flagship asylum legislation, with dozens of Conservatives thought to be prepared to either abstain or vote against it.
If all non-Conservative MPs oppose the plan, a revolt by 29 Tories could be enough to defeat the Safety of Rwanda Bill at its first Commons hurdle – something that has not happened to a piece of government legislation since 1986.
Abstentions are more likely than MPs voting against the legislation at this stage, with Tory critics poised to push for amendments as the Bill progresses – setting up future parliamentary battles.
In a social media post, Mr Sunak publicly pleaded with MPs to support him, saying: “To stop the boats, we need to back this Bill.”
In the Commons, Mr Cleverly said: “The actions that we are taking, whilst novel, whilst very much pushing at the edge of the envelope, are within the framework of international law.”
He added: “The Prime Minister has been crystal clear that he, and the Government that he leads, will not let foreign courts destroy this Rwanda plan and curtail our efforts to break the business model of those evil people-smuggling gangs.”
It was actually the UK Supreme Court which scuppered the plan to send some asylum seekers who cross the English Channel to Rwanda rather than allowing them to attempt to stay in the UK.
The court ruled against the scheme, but the new legislation and a treaty with Rwanda are intended to make it legally watertight.
But groups on the Tory right want it to go further, potentially overriding the European Convention on Human Rights to remove the possibility of Strasbourg judges blocking the removal of people to Rwanda.
The New Conservatives, made up mainly of MPs elected since the 2016 Brexit referendum, are one of the main Tory factions with reservations about the plan and representatives were invited to a breakfast meeting with Mr Sunak in Downing Street as he sought to win them round.
But the group’s co-founder, Danny Kruger, told the Commons: “I regret we’ve got an unsatisfactory Bill, I can’t undertake to support it tonight, I hope the Government would agree to pull the Bill and allow us to work with them and colleagues across the House to produce a better Bill.”
The ERG claimed it had enough MPs to scupper the Bill.
The group’s deputy chairman David Jones said the legislation was “inoperable and ineffective” without amendments.
The Tory “five families” – the ERG, New Conservatives, Common Sense Group, the Conservative Growth Group and Northern Research Group – were meeting in Westminster’s Portcullis House to decide their next move.
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick – who resigned from the Government over the legislation – is an influential figure among the Bill’s critics and allies said he is minded to vote against it unless the Government makes concessions.
He used his Commons speech to push for stricter curbs on a migrant’s ability to legally challenge their removal and for the ability to overrule European Court of Human Rights injunctions.
He told MPs: “This Bill could be so much better. Let’s make it better.”
One New Conservative member Nick Fletcher told the Commons he would back the Bill but warned: “We’ve got friends on this side of the House who want this Bill stronger and I’m going to work with them, and I’m hopefully going to work with you because we must make this work, we have to stop the boats.”
One Conservative MP who attended the breakfast meeting in No 10 told reporters the Prime Minister had said he would listen to ideas for “tightening” the Bill, but did not commit to specific amendments.
Former Cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke joined the chorus of criticism of the Bill, saying the Government should “withdraw the legislation and come back with a new Bill” that could avoid appeals against being sent to Rwanda.
He said: “This is a matter of practical politics as well as principle; we have failed to deliver on our promise to stop the boats twice already. There is neither public patience nor sufficient time for us to fail again.”
In a sign of the anxiety within the party, a Tory source claimed Chief Whip Simon Hart cancelled a meeting with would-be rebels to hold emergency talks with No 10 instead.
One Nation moderates – numbering around 100 MPs – said they will recommend backing the Bill, but the group is likely to resist any amendments from the right that would risk the UK breaching the rule of law and its international obligations.