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Rishi Sunak’s premiership appears to be in the balance as the so-called “star chamber” of Tory lawyers concluded his plans to rescue the ailing Rwanda asylum scheme are “not fit for purpose” – with the PM reportedly deploying David Cameron to fend off a rebellion.
The verdict, which will be closely watched by dozes of rebel MPs, sets the prime minister up for a potential defeat in a crucial Commons vote on Tuesday hanging on a margin of 28 ballots, in a struggle now reminiscent of Theresa May’s fight with a bitterly divided Conservative Party over Brexit.
The bill is a last-ditch bid to get planes in the air after the Supreme Court ruled the government’s previous plans illegal, however right-wing Tories are now urging No 10 to override the European Conventions on Human Rights.
Sacked home secretary Suella Braverman appeared to accuse Mr Sunak of lying on Sunday as she criticised his “rather strange claim” that Rwanda could “collapse” the deal if it breaches international law.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is set to say the Conservatives cannot govern while they are “fighting like rats in a sack” in a speech on Tuesday.
Tory MPs planning ‘Advent of ‘s***’ for Sunak plotting Johnson-Farage ‘dream ticket’, report claims
Dissatisfied Tory MPs are planning what they call “an Advent calendar of s***” for Rishi Sunak, and are still attempting to plot Boris Johnson’s return as prime minister – and are mulling a “dream ticket” leadership bid with Nigel Farage, according to the Mail on Sunday.
The paper claims to have spoken to multiple Tory MPs who believe “crashing” Mr Sunak’s government and bringing back the ex-PM is their only hope of surviving electoral oblivion – and that MPs have privately urged Mr Johnson and Mr Farage to talk.
One outlandish suggestion is that a former Johnson ally, such as Priti Patel, could be installed as a caretaker PM before he is parachuted back into No 10 via a safe seat, while the paper floats the idea that a deal could be struck with Mr Farage’s Reform party by handing him and its leader Richard Tice peerages and ministerial roles
One Red Wall MP reportedly said: “I came out early to say he had to go. But I think we have to think outside the box now. Whatever you feel about him, one thing no one can question is his effectiveness as a campaigner. And we need that now, we’re staring at obliteration.”
Jenrick claims on Rwanda bill ‘not correct’, says Michael Gove
Michael Gove has rejected Robert Jenrick’s claim that “everyone” crossing on a small boat will be able to make a claim even after the Rwanda bill.
“That’s not correct,” the levelling up secretary said on his former colleague’s claims on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
Mr Gove said: “The number of individual cases that can cited is very small … And also it makes it clear than ministers will make a decision on whether someone can be deported.”
Asked how many legal challenges will be made, Mr Gove used Rishi Sunak’s phase. “Vanishingly small,” he said. Mr Gove insisted that the bill “will deal effectively with the situation we face”.
I’m not interested in Tory leadership bid, claims Robert Jenrick
BBC host Laura Kuenssberg asked Robert Jenrick whether he wanted to be Tory leader if Rishi Sunak’s policy collapsed and he was ousted. He replied: “I’m not interested in that.”
The former immigration minister added: “I’m solely interested in this policy. I want the Conservative party to win the next general election. I want it to make good on its manifesto commitments. I think there’s a way to do that.”
Asked if the Tories can win the election, he said: “If we do not fix this challenge … then we will face the red-hot fury of the public.”
Migrant communities leading ‘parallel lives’, claims Robert Jenrick
Robert Jenrick said “mass, uncontrolled migration” was not compatible with community cohesion across the UK.
Asked on the BBC about his push to crack down on legal migration, Mr Jenrick said: “I think there are communities in our country where people are living parallel lives.”
He added: “It’s an obvious observation that a million people coming into our country a year is immensely challenging to successfully integrate. I’ve seen that with the [pro-Palestine] marches through London, where I saw some people who simply did not share British values.”
The former immigration minister said Brexit was the “great reform” which gave the government the “levers” to bring down net migration levels. “We must use them.”
Asked when he “suddenly” become zealous about this issue, Mr Jenrick said: “Oh, I’ve always cared about this.”
Sunak is ‘not going to lose’ Rwanda Commons vote, says Labour frontbencher
Rishi Sunak is “not going to lose” this week’s Commons vote on his Rwanda legislation and “will get through quite comfortably”, a Labour frontbencher has claimed.
“Because why would a Tory MP signal such a lack of confidence in their prime minister?” asked Liz Kendall. “They don’t want an election because they’re worried they’ll lose their seat.
“He’ll get this through, comfortably.”
Tories have ‘caught up’ with Labour on immigration crackdown, claims Starmer frontbencher
Shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has said she is glad the Tories have “caught up” with Labour’s immigration plans, after home secretary James Cleverly outlined plans to raise the salary threshold for skilled workers to £38,000 this week.
Asked whether Labour would keep Tory plans to cut legal migration, Ms Kendall said: “I think the fundamental flaw with the government’s approach is they haven’t dealt with the key issue of skill shortages in this country.”
Pressed again on the question, the frontbencher added: “We have been calling for some while for the salary threshold to be increased, and to get rid of the 20 per cent [salary] discount they have had.”
Asked once again whether Labour would keep the measures, she said: “Seeing as we have been calling for the government to remove that discount and raise the salary threshold, I’m glad they have finally caught up.”
Sunak made choice to produce Rwanda bill which ‘doesn’t do the job’, says Robert Jenrick
Robert Jenrick – who quit as immigration minister this week – has offered a scathing critique of the Rwanda bill, saying it “doesn’t do the job”.
He told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. “I won’t be supporting this bill … I determined that we can persuade the government and colleagues in parliament that there is a better way.”
“I don’t believe this bill will work,” Mr Jenrick said. “I think a political choice was made to bring forward a bill which doesn’t do the job.”
The senior Tory added: “Absolutely everyone who comes across in a small boat will put in a legal claim.”
“The test for this is not, can you get one or two symbolic flights off before the next election with a handful of illegal migrants on them, it’s can you create a strong deterrent that is sustainable and stops the boats.”
Labour frontbencher dodges question on whether party would ask Rwanda to return £290m
Shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has repeatedly dodged questions on whether Labour would ask Rwanda to return the £290m spent by the Tories on its ailing asylum policy.
Ms Kendall told Sky News: “We want to use the money spent on Rwanda to have a different plan that actually works. The problem is we’ve seen the government spend months and months on a plan going round and round in circles.
She added: “We need to end these small boat crossings because it’s extremely bad for national security as well as the lives lost, and we want to spend that on having a new elite cross-border force to really tackle the criminal gangs that are driving this, and also to get rid of the asylum backlog, which is ending up costing £8m a day in hotel fees alone.
“So we have an alternative plan for the future.”
Pressed again on whether Labour would ask for the money back, Ms Kendall said: “I want to see that money spent on tackling the root causes of the problem.”
Sunak will stave off Commons defeat over Rwanda bill, insists David Davis
Former Brexit secretary David Davis has predicted that Rishi Sunak will manage to stave off a destabilising Commons defeat over his Rwanda legislation next week.
Asked by Sky News what sort of number of MPs could rebel, he said: “Quite small, I think. You mention Braverman – people always overestimate her support. Look back at the leadership voting numbers. And my impression from talking to colleagues is the vast majority want to get on with this.
“The newspapers have been saying you only need 29 to vote against – well, 29’s quite a big number actually when it comes to voting against a major piece of government legislation.
“So I think it will get through next week, I think there will be some arguments about amendments, but unless the government agrees them I don’t think even the amendments will go through.”
Tory grandee warns fellow MPs against using Rwanda strife for their own ends
Former Brexit secretary David Davis has criticised fellow Tories “manouevering for [their] future leadership position” and warned that it will “be to their long-term disadvantage”.
Insisting that the Tory grassroots are frustrated with constant sniping at Rishi Sunak, he told Sky News: “Politics is about argument, it’s about debate, it’s about dispute.
But what it shouldn’t be about is manouvering for your future leadership position, or whatever it might be that’s driving some of these things. I don’t mind at all Bill Cash saying ‘I don’t think this is right for X or Y, and can we modify A and B to make it work’.
“And we can have that debate, and that’s how parliament works ... but I think in grand terms the public wants us to make a decision on this and get it resolved.”
Asked who is “on manouevres”, the Tory grandee said: “I’m not going to name them. All of my colleagues know who they are – and it will be to their long-term disadvantage.
“I’ve seen this before. People who trade off their own future against the future of the party always lose.”
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2023-12-10 10:02:32Z
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