Their message was bleak. The government had just unexpectedly lost a vote on the infected blood scandal, and with dozens of rightwingers threatening to rebel over the Rwanda plan, the whips warned they might lose this one too. If that happened, they said, it might be the end of Rishi Sunak's premiership.
"They were worried they no longer had control of the numbers and were not sure they were going to win," says one of those involved in the last-minute talks. "They told us we had to vote with the government, or it might just fall." The stark warning underlines just how important it is to Sunak that the Rwanda bill - which comes back for a series of votes this week during its committee stage and crucial third reading - passes unscathed through parliament.
The prime minister's plan to tackle small boat crossings relies on being able to deport asylum seekers to the central African country. But as he approaches this week's vote he faces rebellions from both the right and centre of his party.
For rightwing backbenchers, the bill does not go far enough in stopping legal appeals against deportation. For many members of the centrist One Nation group, the entire premise of the bill undermines domestic and international law.
In the days before the bill's second reading in the Commons last month, the atmosphere among Tory MPs was febrile. Yet the prime minister avoided a rebellion, with the bill passing by 313 votes to 269.
For the bill to fall, it would have required just 29 Tory MPs to vote against or 57 to abstain. In the end, not a single one of Sunak's MPs voted against and just three dozen abstained.
Afterwards, the leaders of the so-called "five families" of rightwingers claimed they would give the government the chance to "toughen up" the bill, but would oppose it at the next opportunity if they didn't get what they wanted.
この記事は The Guardian の January 15, 2024 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は The Guardian の January 15, 2024 版に掲載されています。
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