A group of Conservative dissenters have claimed that up to 70 Members of Parliament may either support amendments or refrain from endorsing Rishi Sunak’s prominent legislation regarding Rwanda. They warned the prime minister that he will face limited options if he fails to strengthen the bill.
A prominent member of the conservative side of the party stated that a minimum of three junior ministers and six members of the Conservative Party, including a vice-chair, have already notified the party leaders that they support the proposed changes.
According to reports, Lee Anderson, the party’s vice-chair, may be among the “six Conservatives on the payroll” who are prepared to endorse the amendments. These amendments have received support from 56 MPs, including Robert Jenrick, Suella Braverman, Iain Duncan Smith, Liz Truss, John Redwood, Jake Berry, David Jones, Jacob Rees-Mogg, and Simon Clarke.
According to reports from the Telegraph and the Times, Ashfield’s MP Anderson has expressed his support for the rebels’ efforts to strengthen the legislation. He also stated his intention to vote in favor of their proposals this week. Meanwhile, business secretary Kemi Badenoch has informed Sunak that the legislation falls short and must be made more stringent.
The proposed legislation for Rwanda, which is a key aspect of Sunak’s strategy to prevent small boats from crossing, will be brought back to Parliament on Tuesday for a series of votes. Some conservative MPs feel that the bill does not adequately address the issue of international courts interfering with the government’s efforts to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda.
Conservative sources believe that they could defeat the Rwanda bill at its third reading on Wednesday, but this does not include abstentions, which could potentially increase rebel numbers to 70.
On Sunday, John Hayes, who heads the Common Sense group, along with Mark Francois from the European Research group and Danny Kruger from the New Conservatives, stated that they chose to abstain from the initial vote on the bill before Christmas because Sunak assured them that he would make necessary adjustments. They trusted his word.
However, Hayes cautioned the prime minister about the potential consequences of not strengthening the bill, stating to the Guardian, “If the prime minister outright rejects this proposal without any compromise, and the policy ultimately fails leading us to the predicted outcome of being challenged in court, he will have no other options.”
“We did warn you that this would occur, and we made an effort to ensure accuracy, but you chose to oppose it. This is a critical situation for him.”
The focus is on the methods, not the outcomes. Therefore, we are all striving for the same goal. There is no conflicting viewpoint. It is a discussion about the importance and subtleties, and in this situation, the importance holds great weight.
The prime minister has expressed concern that making any additional concessions on the Rwanda bill could result in Rwanda withdrawing from the agreement.
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It is possible that moderate members of the Conservative party, particularly those in the One Nation group, may also object to any alterations that put international law at risk.
The Labour party will not support any of the proposed changes from the right-wing, leaving the Conservative rebels with only one option to stop the legislation – voting against it completely.
Robert Buckland, the ex-Justice Secretary, has stated that he will not support the bill if any changes are made to it before the voting this week. He expressed his thoughts on Times Radio, saying that while he believes the bill is within the boundaries of the rule of law, it may push those limits a bit too much for his liking.
I believe that continually using exceptional justifications for this particular situation can harm the mutual respect that should exist between parliament and our court system, ultimately damaging the foundation of our constitution.
Source: theguardian.com
