Rwanda row 'could spark snap election'

A LOOMING battle over Rishi Sunak's plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda could end with a snap election and the Conservative Party splintering in two, MPs fear.

- David Williamson

The Prime Minister will hope a Christmas truce holds between rival factions within his party, but both sides are braced for a showdown in the new year.

Emergency legislation declaring Rwanda a safe country seeks to prevent legal challenges halting flights to the East African nation.

Mr Sunak wants the first flights to arrive in Rwanda in the spring.

But a former Tory minister who opposes the Safety of Rwanda Bill predicted a "mighty tug of war between the moderates who seek to uphold international law and those on the Right intent on ignoring it".

They warned: "As things stand there is no common ground and the Lords will ensure this Bill is delayed for months." The former minister highlighted a worst-case scenario of "our party splintering into two".