Rishi Sunak is swirling on the edge of a political death spiral

RISHI SUNAK heads into the chamber tonight as the leader of a Conservative Party which has escaped his control. The proximate issue is the second reading of the emergency legislation on an overhauled Rwanda bill to circumvent legal objections in the Supreme Court ruling against the policy.

- Anne McElvoy

The greater significance, however, is the waning authority of the PM, who now finds himself on trial at the behest of the "five families" representing about 100 MPs on the Right of the party, voicing varying degrees of dissatisfaction with a bill which represents one of Sunak's chosen priorities.

A revival of the European Research Group (a grandiose branding by a group of hardline Eurosceptics) bent on making their party ungovernable reminds us that like the original "families" schisms of New York's mafia in the Thirties, the feuds keep on coming- and so does the parliamentary blood-letting.

This morning, a PM currently running on about four hours' sleep a night hosted a breakfast to sweeten the tempers of about 20 MPs that No 10 believe can be won round with bacon sandwiches, croissants, strong coffee and the gratification of getting the PM's ear in a crisis. Trusted allies, from James Cleverly to Ben Wallace, have been dispatched to rally support and save the Rwanda plan.