As MPs gear up for a crucial vote on the Rwanda bill, Chancellor Rishi Sunak is working to shore up support for the legislation among right-wing members of his party. The bill aims to revive the government’s plan to send certain asylum seekers to Rwanda, but some Conservative MPs say tougher legislation is required to ensure the scheme works as intended.
The legislation seeks to declare in UK law that Rwanda is a safe country to send asylum seekers to, and to prevent flights being grounded for legal reasons. However, some on the right of the party fear that the bill does not go far enough to prevent legal challenges that could derail deportations.
Meanwhile, Tory MPs from the more liberal end of the party say they will support the bill in its current form, but have warned against any changes further down the line, arguing they could breach international law. If 29 Conservatives vote against the bill, it would be defeated at this early stage.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has pledged to scrap the Rwanda plan if his party wins the next election. He argues that the £290m earmarked for the east African country would be better spent tackling people-smuggling gangs.
The government has taken the unusual step of publishing a summary of its own legal advice on the scheme in a bid to win over critics. The advice highlights how narrow the grounds for individual deportation challenges will be, but critics say the courts could still be clogged up if only some of these claims are successful.
The numbers are tight for Sunak, but he and those close to him are confident of victory and say they are not going to pull the vote. However, defeat could lead to a leadership election for the chancellor and perhaps even a general election
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