Rishi Sunak seeks to defuse Tory revolt over Rwanda bill

London: Rishi Sunak is racing to shore up support for his Rwanda bill among right-wing MPs, ahead of a crucial vote later.

The PM has been meeting potential rebels, as he tries to convince them to back the legislation.

The bill seeks to revive the government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to the east African country.

But some on the right of the party say a tougher law is needed to ensure the scheme works.

Meanwhile, Tory MPs from the more liberal end of the party say they will support it in its current form, but have warned against any changes further down the line, arguing they could breach international law.

It means Mr Sunak is facing the biggest challenge to his authority from his MPs, who could inflict humiliation on the PM over one of his key policies.

Debate on the bill has begun in the Commons. MPs will vote on the bill from 19:00 GMT onwards.

The government’s legislation has been drawn up to revive the Rwanda scheme, after the Supreme Court ruled it unlawful last month over fears it could lead to human rights breaches.

The legislation seeks to declare in UK law that Rwanda is a safe country to send asylum seekers to, and stop flights being grounded for legal reasons.

However, some right-wing Tory MPs are concerned it does not go far enough to prevent further legal challenges derailing deportations.

With Labour and other opposition parties opposing the bill, a revolt by 29 Conservatives voting against the bill would be enough to defeat it at this early stage – something that has not happened since 1986.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says he will scrap the Rwanda plan if his party wins the next election, arguing the £290m due to be given to the east African country as part of the scheme would be better spent tackling people-smuggling gangs.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, he predicted that the government would win the vote later after “a lot of shouting and screaming” from Tory MPs.

“I don’t think we should allow them the indulgence of pretending it’s going to be tight and he’s done a brilliant job to get it over the line,” he added, noting that with its majority the government would normally be expected to win “very easily”.

Ahead of the vote, several senior Tories, including former defence secretary Ben Wallace and attorney general Sir Geoffrey Cox, have called on MPs to unite, warning disunity would spell disaster for the party ahead of the next election.

“If we go on like this of course we’re going to switch off millions of people upon whose votes we depend,” Sir Geoffrey told BBC Newsnight.

The New Conservatives group, whom Mr Sunak met for around an hour on Tuesday morning, has said the bill requires “major surgery or replacement”.

According to MPs present, the prime minister told potential rebels he was willing to discuss “tightening up” the draft law.

Some MPs told Mr Sunak they would abstain or vote against the bill later. However, it is understood some of those present are planning to vote for the bill, in the hope it gets amended further down the line.

“Some colleagues have become deluded into thinking they will have another shot to kill the bill later on,” a rebel MP said.

The European Research Group – another group on the party’s right – has argued “very significant amendments” are needed to prevent legal challenges to Rwanda deportations.

Robert Jenrick – who quit as immigration minister over the legislation last week – said it was “not a bad bill,” but needed strengthening to prevent individual claims against deportation.

Speaking in the Commons ahead of the vote, he said deportees would “stop at nothing”to avoid being sent to Rwanda, tell MPs: “give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile”.