The 100-Year Life Health Education and Government
Rishi Sunak faced one of the biggest rebellions of his premiership last night over the latest version of the Rwanda bill, which aims to deport asylum seekers to the African country. Sixty Conservative MPs said the bill was not tough enough and backed amendments that would limit individual appeals from asylum seekers and disregard international law. Two deputy party chairs, Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith, quit to support the rebels, alongside parliamentary private secretary Jane Stevenson. In the end Sunak won the vote, with the House of Commons rejecting the tougher amendments by 529 to 68. But some Conservatives are now threatening to vote against the entire Rwanda bill when it comes up for a crucial third vote tonight. Most still expect it to pass. But it comes at great political cost for Sunak, with the risk of emboldening Tory MPs who would like to depose him ahead of this year’s general election.