James Cleverly has insisted the Government’s Rwanda Bill will not be killed by Tory rebels despite right-wing Conservative MPs saying they could vote the emergency legislation down unless it is strengthened.
The Home Secretary said he wants to continue to work with groups including the European Research Group (ERG) to “understand their thinking” after days of bitter division.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak won a crunch vote on the Safety of Rwanda Bill after spending the day in talks with potential rebels to avoid a defeat on his flagship “stop the boats” pledge.
Dozens abstained but no Tories voted against the Bill, with MPs approving the legislation at second reading by 313 to 269, giving the Government a winning majority of 44.
But the victory is temporary, with right-wing Tory factions making clear they reserve the right to vote against the draft law when it returns to the Commons next year unless amendments are made.
Touring broadcast studios on Wednesday, Mr Cleverly sought to play down fractures in the Tory ranks, insisting “the Conservative Party is united” in its desire to get the legislation right.
When it was put to him that right-wing factions, including the ERG chaired by Mark Francois, would vote the Bill down in the new year, the Home Secretary told Sky News: “That’s your assertion, I don’t agree.”
He added: “I will talk to Mark and I’ll talk to others, of course, to understand their thinking on this and try to harvest their ideas to make things better.
“But I can’t see if someone’s got a concern that the Bill might not be as strong as they would like, killing the Bill doesn’t strike me as the best way of doing that, because if the Bill isn’t on the statute books it can’t possibly succeed.”
Former home secretary Suella Braverman, and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who resigned last week following publication of the Bill, were among the high-profile Tories to abstain on Tuesday, despite MPs being issued a three-line whip to vote in support of the Government.
Former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and former business secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg were among those to back it.
The British people should decide who gets to come to this country – not criminal gangs or foreign courts.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) December 12, 2023
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 piece of government legislation has not failed to pass a second reading, the first Commons hurdle, since 1986.
Mr Sunak said the victory in the Commons for the Bill would pave the way for him to deliver his pledge of stopping boats of migrants from crossing the Channel.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, following the vote, he said: “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.”
The legislation is designed to prevent migrants who arrive via unauthorised routes from legally challenging deportation to Rwanda after the Supreme Court ruled the flagship asylum policy unlawful.
It seeks to revive the stalled plan by enabling Parliament to deem the country safe in order to block claims against being sent to Kigali made on the basis that it is unsafe.
Ministers would be able to disapply the Human Rights Act but it does not go as far as overriding the European Convention on Human Rights, something which Tory hardliners have said is needed for the policy to be enacted.
The Home Office has paid £240 million to Kigali so far, with another payment of £50 million anticipated in 2024/25, but no flights have yet taken off.
Mr Cleverly insisted on Tuesday that the Government’s target of getting deportation journeys running by spring is still “credible” despite the Tory infighting, but conceded its passage through Parliament would take “some time”.
Mr Francois announced ahead of the Commons vote that his group and four other right-wing factions – the self-described “five families” – would be abstaining, with a view to putting forward amendments early next year.
The other factions include the New Conservatives, Common Sense Group, Conservative Growth Group and Northern Research Group.
The ERG leader said Mr Sunak had told colleagues he is “prepared to entertain tightening the Bill” and that, if the Prime Minister does not accept changes to ensure that happens, then the five caucuses “reserve the right to vote against” the Government at the next stage.
A Tory rebel source told the PA news agency: “This Bill has been allowed to live another day.
“But, without amendments, it will be killed next month. It is now up to the Government to decide what it wants to do.”
The ERG raised concerns ahead of the vote that, while the legislation declares Rwanda a “safe” country in general, it includes a clause making limited allowances for personal claims against being sent to Kigali.
The group’s lawyers also complained that the scope of the Bill to disapply elements of human rights law is “very narrow” and does not go far enough to address the risk of European judges blocking the plan.
The Government has said it will listen to changes suggested by MPs but has not committed to accepting amendments.
If all non-Conservative MPs oppose the plan, a revolt by 29 Tories could be enough to defeat the Safety of Rwanda Bill at its next test in Parliament.
After the forthcoming committee stage, there will be a third reading vote before the Bill is sent to the House of Lords, where it is expected to face heavy scrutiny.
Tory moderates urged Mr Sunak to stay the course and continue with the legislation as it is following his Commons victory.
MPs in the One Nation caucus agreed to back the Bill this week but have stressed that they will resist any amendments from the right that would risk the UK breaching the rule of law and its international obligations.