Rishi Sunak told he's 'dead man walking' as he faces nightmare after Christmas
Rishi Sunak has been warned he is a “dead man walking” as Tory rebels threaten to sink his Rwanda legislation in January unless he gives into their demands.
The PM was given a stay of execution as he survived a crunch vote in Parliament on a new law he says will get deportation flights off the ground. But critics said he had merely delayed his nightmare until after the Christmas break.
Dozens of Tories defied Mr Sunak by refusing to back emergency legislation, which passed by 313 votes to 269. In a major revolt, 29 Conservative MPs failed to vote despite not having permission to be absent. Mr Sunak resorted to begging MPs to support him as he struggled to control his warring party.
Right-wingers were invited into Downing Street for bacon rolls and pastries as part of a charm offensive. Mr Sunak dangled the prospect of tax cuts if they keep in power. But one former minister told the Mirror: “He’s a dead man walking. He will limp on to January, but he won’t survive the year. He simply cannot go on like this.”
Hardliners say the Bill that will override parts of the Human Rights Act should be toughened up so ministers can ignore the European Convention on Human Rights, while those on the other side of the party argue it goes too far. The legislation cleared its first parliamentary hurdle, but the opposing wings of the Tory Party vowed to try to amend it when it returns to the Commons in January.
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Those on the Right said if they fail to get their way by strengthening the Bill they will torpedo it. Moderates in the One Nation faction suggested they could work with Labour to wreck it by watering it down. A Tory plotter warned that Downing Street was in trouble, saying: “They’re f***ed. They’ve kicked the problem to January.”
Rishi Sunak is struggling to control his warring party (AP)Mark Francois, the chairman of the European Research Group, warned that if Mr Sunak refused to accept its proposed amendments MPs were prepared to oppose the legislation at a later stage. He said: “Harold Wilson once famously said a week is a long time in politics. Well a month is a very long time. So let's pick this up again in January. We will table amendments. We will take it from there.”
Mr Sunak last week had warned MPs that it would be impossible to strengthen the Bill. The PM told a Downing Street press conference: "It is the only approach because going any further, that difference is an inch, but going any further means that Rwanda will collapse the scheme and then we will have nowhere to send anyone to.”
In the Commons, Labour’s Yvette Cooper warned the Government was paralysed by “Tory psychodrama”. The Shadow Home Secretary said: “The Prime Minister says that his patience is wearing thin. Well, how do the Tories think the country feels when watching this chaos? He is hoping that his party will calm down over Christmas, but they all know who the Christmas turkey is, and he is sitting in No10.”
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Naomi Smith of Best for Britain said: “Rishi Sunak’s authority and credibility is toast and while his party self-immolates, NHS waiting lists, crumbling schools and the UK’s economic malaise will continue to go unaddressed. We cannot afford this psychodrama to continue into the New Year. We need a general election now.”
Following the result, the Prime Minister tweeted: "The British people should decide who gets to come to this country - not criminal gangs or foreign courts. That's what this Bill delivers. We will now work to make it law so that we can get flights going to Rwanda and stop the boats."
A Tory rebel source said: "This Bill has been allowed to live another day. But without amendments it will be killed next month. It's now up to the Government to decide what it wants to do."
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