Rishi Sunak secures Commons approval for Rwanda bill as rebel MPs back down

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Rishi Sunak quelled a rightwing Conservative revolt over his flagship Rwanda asylum bill on Wednesday as the House of Commons approved the legislation in a pivotal vote.

Many of the rightwing Tory MPs who were threatening to rebel over the bill had earlier indicated they would back down, and the bill was approved by 320 votes to 276 at its third reading in the Commons.

Sunak had been hit by the biggest rebellion of his premiership on Tuesday after 60 Tory MPs backed an amendment to toughen up the bill by preventing asylum seekers from appealing against their removal under international human rights law.

Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith resigned as Tory deputy chairs before they were sacked in order to vote for the amendment, as did Jane Stevenson, formerly a ministerial aide.

The bill underpins a near two-year-old plan by the government to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda, and thereby try to deter migrants from coming to the UK in small boats across the English Channel, but rebel Conservatives fear the legislation will prove ineffective.

Sunak won Tuesday’s vote thanks to the backing of Labour and other opposition parties.

At the bill’s third reading on Wednesday, 11 Tory MPs voted against the legislation, including former home secretary Suella Braverman and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, while 18 abstained.

Earlier, the so-called five families of rightwing Tory factions held a meeting at which the majority of the 45 MPs present indicated they would give Sunak their backing on the bill at the third reading, according to a spokesperson for the rebels.

With the bill having passed all its Commons stages, it now goes to the House of Lords, where it is expected to face harsh opposition.

If the bill becomes law, it is supposed to ensure that migrants who come to the UK via clandestine routes can be sent to Rwanda to have their asylum requests processed.

The bill is a response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in November that the Rwanda scheme was unlawful because the African country was not safe for asylum seekers.

Sunak made his promise to “stop the boats” coming across the Channel one of his core pre-election pledges, and has said he wants to get the first asylum seekers on flights to Rwanda by the spring.

But critics led by rebel Tory MPs say there is little chance the Rwanda bill will allow that, given it leaves removal decisions vulnerable to challenges in UK and EU courts.

Ahead of the bill’s third reading, 61 rebel Conservative MPs backed an amendment by Jenrick that aimed to compel ministers to ignore injunctions by the European Court of Human Rights that sought to halt the transportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda. The government opposed the amendment, and the Commons rejected it.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on Wednesday there were limits to how long his country would wait for flights to bring migrants from the UK, adding that “if they don’t come, we can return the money”. The UK has so far paid £240mn to Kigali for the scheme.

Yolande Makolo, a spokesperson for the Rwandan government, later said that “under the terms of the agreement, Rwanda has no obligation to return any of the funds paid”.

She added: “To talk about figures at this point is premature, as we are still awaiting the conclusion of the UK legislative process and remain committed to making the partnership work.” 

Asked about Kagame’s comments, a Downing Street spokesperson said “our focus is on securing the progress of the bill through the House and we’re confident in our ability to do that”.

The government offered a series of concessions to rebel Tory MPs as they sought to stave off further rebellions after Tuesday’s vote.

These included a commitment to publish guidance stating that civil servants would not breach rules on how public officials should conduct themselves if ministers overruled ECHR injunctions relating to migrants.

Previously, civil servants had deferred the removal of asylum seekers when they received such orders from judges in Strasbourg.

Sir Matthew Rycroft, permanent secretary at the Home Office, wrote to the cabinet secretary Simon Case to confirm that he had updated his department’s guidance to instruct officials to “proceed with removal if the relevant minister approves that course of action” following notification of an injunction.

The move sparked criticism from Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union, which represents senior civil servants.

“Civil servants come to work expecting to serve the government of the day, regardless of their own politics,” Penman said on X.

“They do not expect to be told to break international law in order to resolve internal party disputes, as the new guidance on ECHR rulings does.”

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