Tory deputy chairmen to rebel over Rwanda Bill
Direct challenge to PM comes as ministers urge him to toughen migrant legislation
RISHI SUNAK’S authority was challenged yesterday as two deputy chairmen of the Conservative Party announced they would rebel over the Rwanda Bill.
Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarkesmith revealed they had signed rebel amendments to toughen the legislation, effectively challenging the Prime Minister to sack them from their party posts.
MPS will begin two days of debate today discussing amendments to the Bill, which Mr Sunak wants passed as soon as possible to get deportation flights off to Rwanda in the spring.
Mr Anderson and Mr Clarke-smith added their names to a list of more than 60 rebel MPS on the Right of the party backing measures to make it harder for migrants to challenge their deportation and automatically block injunctions of the flights by European judges.
Mr Anderson tweeted: “I have signed the [Sir Bill] Cash and [Robert] Jenrick amendments. I will vote for them.”
In an interview on GB News, he said he backed “90 per cent” of the Bill. “This is not a rebellion but making sure the Bill is beefed up a bit,” Mr Anderson added. “There’s talk about being sacked and resignation and all this. The most important thing to me is not my role, as a deputy chairman, the most important thing to me is making sure this legislation works.”
Mr Clarke-smith tweeted: “When I was elected in 2019, I promised my constituents we would take back control. I want this legislation to be as strong as possible and therefore I will be supporting the Jenrick/cash amendments. These are arguments I have consistently made and will continue to make.”
Jane Stevenson, a parliamentary aide to Kemi Badenoch, the Business Secretary who has been touted as a prospective future Tory leader, is also understood to have signed the amendments. The Prime
Minister must now decide whether to dismiss Mr Anderson and the others from their posts or keep them in their roles with his authority undermined. Both deputy chairmen hold Red Wall seats and could help win votes from immigration hardliners.
Last night, Mr Sunak declined to say whether Mr Anderson would be disciplined if he rebelled. The number of rebels passed 60 yesterday, more than enough to overturn Mr Sunak’s 58-seat majority and defeat the Government if they decide to vote down the Bill at third reading tomorrow.
The Prime Minister gave some ground to his Rwanda critics yesterday by saying explicitly he would be prepared to ignore so-called Rule 39 injunctions by European judges in Strasbourg – such as the one used to ground the first flight in June 2022. He has previously declined to give such a definitive answer.
Mr Sunak is reportedly planning to fast-track migrant appeals against deportation to Rwanda by drafting in an extra 150 judges, according to The Times.
A senior No10 adviser is also believed to have indicated to MPS that there could be concessions on demands for tighter rules to prevent migrants lodging individual appeals against deportation.
However, Downing Street sources insisted that they would not accept any of the amendments, challenging the Tory rebels to provide legal proof that their changes would not breach international law.
The Telegraph can reveal that polling shows the public backs a toughening of the Government’s Rwanda plan for illegal migrants.
More than half of voters in the Prime Minister’s constituency believe people who cross the Channel in small boats should be immediately removed with
no right of appeal. Across England and Wales 42 per cent of voting-age adults back such a policy, which Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, is trying to persuade Mr Sunak to adopt. Writing in The Telegraph today, Mr Jenrick says: “The only path to victory at the next general election, and keeping out the open-borders Labour party, is to strengthen this Bill so that it stops the boats. It’s a path the Conservative Party has one last chance to choose. It’s the right thing to do for our country, and it’s the right thing to do for democracy.”
The Telegraph has learnt that at least five former Cabinet ministers have warned they are prepared to vote down the Bill if the Government fails to strengthen the legislation.
Asked whether he would vote against the Bill if it remained unamended, Sir Jacob Rees-mogg, the former business secretary, said: “I would hope not to, but I would be prepared to. I think the problem is the Government promised engagement after the second reading, and has failed to give serious engagement. That is an error and ministers should note from The Telegraph’s polling [yesterday] that this is a matter of great concern to voters.”
Asked if he would vote against the Bill if it went unamended, Sir Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary, said: “I have been clear with the whips that if the Bill goes forward unamended I will be unable to offer it my support.” He said a “significant body” of Tory MPS who would not be able to support the Bill “as it stands”.
Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, and Mr Jenrick, the former immigration minister, indicated they would vote against it without major changes. A fifth former Cabinet minister said he too would vote against “unless there are significant concessions”. The Telegraph has also learnt that at least four current Cabinet ministers have privately urged Mr Sunak to toughen the Bill. Steve Barclay, the Environment Secretary, Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick, then immigration minister, met last month with Mr Sunak’s chief of staff, Liam Booth-smith, to press for the legislation to be hardened up.
At least two other Cabinet ministers are believed to be broadly supportive that the Bill needs to go further.