The Prime Minister invited around 15 potential rebels into No.10 for breakfast this morning to try to persuade them not to vote against the government tonight.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been left humiliated after he was forced this morning to beg right-wing Tory MPs to support his Rwanda Bill in what is a make or break vote for his premiership.
MPs will vote on the Safety of Rwanda Bill at second reading just after 7pm tonight, as Sunak attempts to push through his flagship policy to ‘stop the boats’, even after the Supreme Court rule that the Rwanda deportation scheme is unlawful as Rwanda is not a safe country.
The bill put forward by Sunak compels judges to treat Rwanda as a safe country and gives ministers the powers to disregard sections of the Human Rights Act.
Sunak has staked much of his authority on stopping small boat crossings, with the Rwanda policy a crucial plank of that plan. The government has already spent £290 million on the scheme despite the fact that not a single flight has taken off.
The right of Sunak’s party want him to do more and further toughen the bill, despite the fact that it undermines the rule of law. Meanwhile, a number of one nation Tories have warned that they will not support the bill if amendments are made to appease the Tory right which could end up breaching international obligations and undermining the rule of law.
Tonight’s vote is very much seen as a test of Sunak’s premiership, with minister’s warning that should the bill be voted down tonight it could collapse the government.
It’s within this context that the Prime Minister invited around 15 potential rebels into No.10 for breakfast this morning to try to persuade them not to vote against the government tonight.
Among the group of rebels who were invited were deputy Tory chairman Lee Anderson, as well as Jonathan Gullis, Danny Kruger, Neil O’Brien, Miriam Cates and Jill Mortimer.
One Tory aide told HuffPost UK: “Breakfast with Gullis and Kruger – the PM must be wondering where his life went so badly wrong.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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