“Rishi Sunak is facing a mass rebellion by right-wing Tory MPs after the government warned that their demands over the Rwanda migration scheme risk sacrificing Britain’s “tradition of liberty and justice”. In a significant test of his authority, the prime minister will push ahead with a vote on emergency legislation on Tuesday despite the threat of a rebellion by dozens of Tory MPs, who say the bill does not go far enough. More than 40 MPs have agreed to abstain or vote against the legislation, enough to kill the bill unless Sunak offers fresh concessions. They said the legislation needs “major surgery or replacement”.” – The Times
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Analysis:
>Today: Peter Franklin’s column: Why can’t the Conservatives be normal for a change?
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Tomorrow’s Rwanda vote. Meet five Conservative MPs. And ponder the unexpected consequences of abstention.
“Ben Wallace has warned Tory rebels not to “wreck” the Government by voting down the emergency Rwanda legislation in a rare intervention since his resignation as defence secretary. Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Wallace urged his colleagues not to “make the perfect (but unrealistic) the enemy of the good”. Rishi Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill faces its first Commons vote on Tuesday, and he will personally attempt to win over Tory migration hardliners during a Downing Street breakfast. No 10 suffered a blow on Monday when a “star chamber” advising five groups on the Conservative Right warned that the Bill did not go far enough, prompting calls for it to be pulled.” – Daily Telegraph
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>Yesterday: Matt Warman MP in Comment: A One Nation view of the Rwanda scheme. We shouldn’t make the perfect the enemy of the good.
“Nigel Farage branded Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill “an absolute cop out” and a “total joke” as he urged Tory MPs to vote it down tomorrow. The right-wing big beast and I’m a Celeb finalist said the PM is “out of his depth”, adding “I very much hope the plan goes under tomorrow.” And he claimed if he was a Tory MP that “believed in keeping the election promises made in four successive General Elections” he “would vote against my leader.” … But he predicted the Tory MPs will fall in line at Tuesday’s crunch vote on the deportation legislation, claiming: “They are a pretty spineless, useless Oxbridge bunch generally. It’s tough to find any chins on them really.”” – The Sun
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Comment:
>Today: Suella Braverman MP in Comment: Sunak should withdraw this Rwanda Bill and reintroduce one that works. If he does so, I’ll vote for it.
“The annual cost of housing small boat migrants will quadruple to £11billion within three years if crossings continue, ministers have warned. It came as the Home Office’s top mandarin admitted ministers will hand Rwanda even more cash on top of the £290million already set for the African country. Downing Street yesterday published the government’s legal advice on the Rwanda scheme in a bid to squash a growing Tory rebellion. It pointed to modelling showing taxpayers are on the hook for eye-watering sums well beyond the current £8million for migrant hotels if the problem is not cracked… Meanwhile Home Office chief Sir Matthew Rycroft said money will be handed over for further instalments with the deal is set to end in 2027.” – The Sun
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“We’ve strengthened immigration enforcement: illegal working raids are up by nearly 70 per cent, leading to nearly 6,000 arrests, two and a half times as many as last year, and we’ve boosted returns, with 20,000 illegal migrants returned this year. The numbers crossing the Channel on small boats have dropped. Next comes Rwanda. Yes, we lost before the courts, but just like any government before us, we have addressed the issues and I am confident that, as long as Labour doesn’t use the unelected House of Lords to derail the scheme, there is a good chance the return programme will progress.” – Daily Telegraph
More:
>Today: ToryDiary: The shadow of a leadership ballot hangs over today’s vote on the Rwanda Bill
“Rishi Sunak has defended his controversial Eat Out to Help Out scheme insisting none of the Government’s top scientists chose to express concerns to him before its implementation. The embattled PM also rejected claims by Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock that he had warned the Treasury the scheme was causing problems. Mr Sunak’s comments come as he is facing a highly-charged grilling at the Covid-19 inquiry, which is looking at decision-making during the pandemic. The Prime Minister served as chancellor during the coronavirus outbreak and was responsible for implementing the furlough scheme and the Eat Out To Help Out discount hospitality initiative.” – The Sun
Comment:
Sketch:
Editorial:
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Andrew Gimson’s Covid Inquiry sketch: Sunak the gifted administrator refuses to denounce Johnson
“David Cameron has read the riot act to Humza Yousaf over an unauthorised meeting with Turkey’s president about the Gaza crisis. The Foreign Secretary threatened to withdraw his department’s support for the Scottish government and kick officials out of UK government buildings in a furious row over the protocol breach. He warned Mr Yousaf – who has been demanding an immediate ceasefire – that there must be no confusion about Britain’s foreign policy. But the Scottish First Minister moaned that Lord Cameron was being ‘petty’ about the talks at the Cop28 summit in Abu Dhabi, saying he should have just ‘picked up the phone’ rather than issuing an official rebuke.” – Daily Mail
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“UK ministers have offered Northern Ireland a financial package that they say is worth £2.5bn on condition that the Stormont executive is revived. Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, made the offer at a roundtable meeting of party leaders on Monday against a backdrop of political deadlock, budget overruns and crumbling public services. The move will increase pressure on the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) to abandon a boycott of power-sharing that has paralysed the Stormont executive and assembly amid a mounting fiscal crisis. The package would include a new funding formula for public services and a lump sum to settle pay claims that have led to industrial action by education, health and transport workers.” – The Guardian
“British fishermen will be able to net 120,000 more tonnes of fish next year than if Britain had remained a member of the European Union. Ministers have unveiled a new deal agreed jointly with Brussels and Norway with almost £1 billion worth of quotas handed to UK boats. Steve Barclay, the Environment Secretary, told the Telegraph the result showed how Britain was better off as an “independent coastal state”. The agreement for 2024 will allow fishermen to land 750,000 tonnes of catches overall, which is 80,000 more than last year. In total those quotas are expected to be worth up to £970 million based on historical landing prices, which is an increase of £70 million compared with 2023.” – Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday: Andrew O’Brien in Comment: Sunak and Hunt must avoid the inheritance tax trap at the Spring Budget
“Labour will end the Conservative “psychodrama” and return government to the “mundane stuff”, Keir Starmer will pledge, in a plea to the “red wall” voters the party is targeting. His “changed” party is committed to national security and careful management of taxpayer money, he will emphasise in a speech that has been moved to Buckinghamshire from a northern constituency in order for the Labour leader to stay close to Westminster as MPs prepare to vote on the government’s Rwanda bill. Starmer will seek to portray Tory splits over the policy as a “perfect example” of Rishi Sunak’s party “putting internal party squabbles over the priorities of working people”. “We’re all stuck in their psychodrama, all being dragged down to their level,” he will say in a speech marking the fourth anniversary of the 2019 general election.” – The Guardian
>Today: Steven Leigh in Local Government: The new Leisure Centre project in Halifax is a prime example of Labour mismanagement