Lord Hague said there was no “guarantee” the Conservatives would return to government if the party lost to Labor next year. Photo: VICTORIA JONES/PA < p>Lord Hague warned the Conservatives could be permanently ousted from power at the next general election and urged Tory MPs not to torpedo Rishi Sunak's Rwanda Bill.
The former Tory leader said there were “no guarantees”. “The Conservatives will never return to government if the party loses to Labor next year.”
He said Tory MPs were “punching holes” in the PM’s plan for Rwanda “there is only opposition to which can be counted on,” and called for unity ahead of a vote on the bill in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening.
Lord Hague told Times Radio: “There is no guarantee of a return. I'm not predicting this because I want Rishi Sunak to win his vote so he can continue to do well in the coming year and win the election.
“I'm not predicting it will happen, I'm just saying it could happen. The Liberal Party used to be a regular governing party, but when it left after the First World War, it never returned as a majority government.”
The Rwanda Bill will formally designate Rwanda as a safe country. country for asylum seekers and ministers hope it will pave the way for the start of deportation flights. However, some Conservative MPs believe the bill does not go far enough and want the government to strengthen its approach.
Hanging in the balance
The result of Tuesday night's vote – when MPs will weigh in on the bill for the first time – is hanging in the balance within a hair's breadth, since it is unclear whether the majority will support it.
Mr Sunak tried to personally try to win. on Conservative hardliners on migration during the Downing Street breakfast on Tuesday morning.
In an article for The Telegraph on Monday, Ben Wallace, the former defense secretary, urged rebels not to destroy the government by voting against the law. He urged his colleagues not to “make the ideal (but unreal) the enemy of the good.”
Meanwhile, James Cleverley, the Home Secretary, said in an article in the Telegraph: “Those who say the bill does not go far enough are, with all due respect, mistaken. And the way to prove it can't work is to not prove it can't work.”
The One Nation group of moderate Tory MPs announced on Monday that they would vote for the legislation warning against any attempts. tighten measures. However, Mr Sunak faces a serious rebellion from right-wing parties.
'Situation in ruins'
Lord Hague called for Conservative unity and warned that a vote against the bill could cost the Conservatives at the next election. “If they continue to behave this way, they will only have to wait for opposition,” he added.
“That's where they are headed if they make it difficult or impossible for the government to run again.” Conservative Prime Minister.
“I think they need to be warned about this. Stating that the vast majority of Tory MPs would vote for the legislation, even if they have some doubts about it, they are very supportive of Rishi Sunak.
“So the vast majority I wouldn't criticize, but too many people are trying find holes in it, when in fact they need to unite, they need to stick together to have any chance of the Conservatives doing well in next year's election.”
He said the Vote on the Rwanda Bill represented “a really important day in British politics” and suggested that the results could provide an “important signpost” ahead of the next general election.
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