RWANDA SHOWDOWN
60 Tory MPs rebel against Rishi Sunak’s landmark Rwanda bill as PM faces next test today
The rebels included ten former cabinet ministers
RISHI Sunak faces the fight of his premiership tonight after 60 Tory MPs voted against his landmark Rwanda bill.
Two senior Tories resigned to demand his deportation legislation was toughened against meddling Strasbourg judges - but the PM refused to budge.
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The rebels included ten former cabinet ministers, while Tory party deputy chairs Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke Smith jumped ship to vote against the government.
The bloody nose was not enough to amend the emergency bill - but fewer than 30 voting against the legislation’s crunch vote tonight will see the PM’s flagship bill torpedoed.
Eight members of the DUP joined with the rebels to demand the bill take a firmer stance against the ECHR, with the Ulster hardliners vowing to vote it down again this evening.
The rebel ringleaders last night warned the current Bill is “unworkable” because it is vulnerable to legal challenges from both individual migrants and European judges.
Mr Anderson and Mr Clarke-Smith released a joint letter.
They told the PM: “We fully appreciate that whilst our main wish is to strengthen the legislation, this means that in order to vote for amendments we will therefore need to offer you our resignations.”
A day of high Westminster drama kicked off with Boris Johnson backing the revolt.
The former PM said: “This bill must be as legally robust as possible — and the right course is to adopt the amendments.”
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Ex-Home Secretary Priti Patel urged colleagues to back the Bill as long as civil servants were stopped from halting deportation flights.
The PM will spend today trying to talk the rebels round. He has given a verbal pledge to ignore Euro judges if they use injunctions.
But a rebel source warned the PM the group would accept changes only to primary legislation.
Former Cabinet Ministers Suella Braverman, Robert Jenrick and Sir Simon Clarke all say they will vote against the Bill without changes.
Tory rebel Mark Francois said: “I hope very much the Government will listen.”
EXPLAINED: Why is Rishi Sunak facing a Rwanda rebellion?
REBEL Tory MPs are launching a series of amendments to toughen up the Rwanda plan. Here's what it means
What is happening?
Right-wing Tory rebels are tabling a series of amendments to Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill, which they believe is too weak to stop the boats as it stands.
What are the amendments?
The amendments seek to close supposed “loopholes” in the Bill which the rebels believe would let illegal migrants fight their deportation to Rwanda in the courts and grind the whole scheme to a halt once again.
They want to seal off these challenges to all-but exceptional cases, such as pregnant women.
Ministers insist the current legislation will already prevent more than 90 per cent of all legal challenges.
The rebels also want to automatically throw out any injunctions to stop planes taking off from European judges. These Rule 39 orders issued by the Strasbourg Court stopped a previous flight in 2022.
To achieve these ends, the amendments disapply the Human Rights Act and European Convention on Human Rights from immigration decisions.
Will they pass?
While almost 60 Tory MPs are backing the amendments, they will not pass without government support.
It is unlikely Mr Sunak will back any of them as it risks angering centrist Conservative “wets” who could then withdraw their backing.
What would the rebels do then?
If none of their amendments pass, the rebels then face a choice: either get behind the PM’s original Bill, or vote with opposition parties to oppose it.
Mr Sunak will lose the crunch vote expected Wednesday night if more than 32 Tory MPs vote against, or 55 abstain.
While some - including Suella Braverman - have said categorically they would not vote for the current Bill - most have kept their cards close to their chest so far.
Downing Street figures are confident that, if push came to shove, most Tory MPs would hold their noses and vote for the Bill rather than side with Labour to blow the whole plan up.
What if the PM’s Bill did fail?
If the rebels take the nuclear option of sinking the entire Rwanda Bill, it would leave Mr Sunak’s flagship immigration plan in tatters.
He might then make tweaks and hold another vote, but it would mark a huge setback for the PM’s efforts.
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