Conservative rebels leave Number 10 on Tuesday morning after bacon sandwiches with the Prime Minister. Photo: ANDY RAIN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
With storm clouds gathering ominously in Westminster — both literally and figuratively — the Prime Minister summoned the would-be rebels to Downing Street for a make-or-break breakfast.
< p>If Rishi Sunak could convince supporters of the Conservative right to support If he did not vote against the Rwanda Bill, or at least vote against it, his embattled government could make it through to the elections he chooses later next year.
If he can't, then it can. spells the end of his tenure and an election that could mark the start of Labour's decades-long reign.
Around 7.30am, 15 members of the New Conservative group, which included Danny Kruger, Miriam Cates, Jonathan Gallis, Marco Longhi and Nick Fletcher, gathered in Downing Street for the decisive meeting.
At No. 10: They were given bacon sandwiches while the Prime Minister urged them to support the Bill.
Also in the room were Deputy Chief Executives Will Tanner and Rupert York; and Craig Williams, Mr Sunak's parliamentary private secretary.
Mr Kruger told the Prime Minister he had only three options: withdraw the bill now, commit to making amendments or refuse to make any -changes. If he chose the latter route, he told him, people would vote against it.
Rishi Sunak holds his weekly cabinet meeting It was a monumental day for the Prime Minister. Photo: Simon Dawson/No. 10 Downing Street
In response, the Prime Minister told him that while he would not withdraw the bill, he would consider proposals to tighten it.
That was exactly the language , which was intended to convince some rebels to retreat from the brink.
But then Mr Sunak made things more difficult. He angered some rebels by saying he inherited the problem of small ships and high levels of immigration, and accused his predecessors of doing too little to address the problem.
One source said Mr. Sunak «half-heartedly raised» the idea of amendments, but only as part of the bill. However, they added that he then said that the bill was actually very good and did not see the need for it. “The reception was cold,” they said.
“It didn’t go very well.”
The meeting «didn't go very well,» one Conservative source said. «Rishi pointed the finger at Boris [Johnson], Liz [Truss], Suella [Braverman] and Rob [Jenrick],» the source said.
Other MPs spoke out at the meeting, saying they felt they were not properly consulted either before or after the publication of the bill.
When Nick Fletcher told Mr Sunak his government needed to be more Conservative, the Prime Minister replied that he was Conservative and highlighted tax cuts in the Autumn Statement.
Andrew Mitchell and David Cameron leave Downing Street after a cabinet meeting. Photo: Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph
No 10 was upbeat after MPs left the meeting.
“It was a very useful meeting to hear MPs’ thoughts and discuss their concerns,” the source said. “The Bill has been drafted with great attention to detail and input from colleagues has helped shape the legislation.
“The checks set out for the Bill have been met and we will continue to listen to and engage with colleagues. throughout the party as it passes through parliament. This bill will work and will do what we need.”
But one source close to the Tory rebels said: “Rishi was quite dismissive. He seemed reluctant to open up a serious alternative [to the bill]. It was a bit of a wild teenage lifestyle.»
Anger at Sunak
There have been suggestions that anger at Mr Sunak is wider than just a Rwandan issue, with the right feeling increasingly ignored following the sacking of Suella Braverman from as Home Secretary, their standard-bearer in the Cabinet.
This, and the appointment of the moderate Lord Cameron as Foreign Secretary, has led some to feel that the government is moving further towards the centre.
Shortly after No 10, key figures from all five right-wing groups threatened to vote down the bill, meeting Chief Whip Simon Hart in his office.
But the source played down hopes that it had led to a significant change of heart, saying: «They didn't feel that much progress had been made or that the government had provided more opportunities.»
However, Mr Sunak appeared cheerful during lunch as he was seen in public for the first time, sitting on the front bench next to James Cleverly.
Home secretary speaks to government in debate on the second reading of the bill on Rwanda.
A source close to Mr Cleverly insisted ministers had listened and would continue to listen to rebel MPs' demands for changes to the Bill, but it would be a «pretty narrow runway» if there were any more changes
The source said the government's argument was: «No one is going to prove their concerns about whether something can work by saying it can't work.»
» On the edge of the possible»
Mr Cleverley himself told MPs: «The actions we are taking, although new, although very much beyond the bounds of the possible, are within the framework of international law.»
Rebel MPs were critical during the debate, but no one said they would go further than abstain from the bill, effectively voting against it.
Mr Kruger told the Commons: “I regret that we did it. received an unsatisfactory bill. I cannot commit myself to supporting him tonight.»
Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister who shocked Westminster with his resignation last week, said he wanted the Rwanda bill to work and suggested he would support it if the amendments were strong enough.
Mark Francois reports Tory rebels have decided to abstain from voting
He warned that the number of small boats coming to the UK 'will continue to rise for many years' , if the government fails to successfully implement its policy of flying migrants from Rwanda.
But on the other hand, Bob Neal, a former minister, warned: «The day the Conservative Party decides that the ends justify the means, that any single political end trumps the checks and balances of our Constitution, it will cease to be a Conservative Party.»
Mr Sunak may have appeared upbeat in public, but Tory supporters weren't taking anything for granted.
Overnight, members of the international development select committee were told to forgo traveling to the Caribbean to vote.
Dragged Back
Sir Graham Stewart, the environment secretary, was pulled back from the Middle East, where the Kop climate summit is still ongoing. and no ministers are present in the final hours of negotiations.
The vote was so close that even Peter Bone — currently suspended from the Conservative Party for putting himself in danger in front of an aide — came to Parliament to speak out your opinion.
So does former Attorney General Sir Geoffrey Cox, who spends much of his time outside Parliament doing legal work.
In a dramatic speech, he said it was vital to retain people's right of access to court in the Bill — something the rebels want to see removed, adding: «As for maintaining the right to go to court as a last resort, I say that is part of the British constitution , which our fathers and our party supported and fought for. for generations, and it would be wrong for us to compromise.»
A row erupted over whether Tory supporters warned rebels they could be expelled from the parliamentary party if they did not vote for the bill. Rwanda.
Sir Bill Cash, a veteran Tory MP who led the so-called star chamber of the right-wing Tories, leveled the allegations against Hart, the chief whip. Mr Hart disputed these claims. «The leader made it very clear to Cash that no one was threatened,» a Conservative Party source said.
Mr Sunak spent much of the day in his parliamentary office personally trying to persuade Conservative Party rebels not to vote against .
He also met members of the One Nation faction of moderate Tory MPs to calm their fears that any further concessions to the right would go too far.
'This breaks all the rules'
Former Cabinet minister from this group said: “You can’t go any further. A little more and it breaks all the rules. There will be pushback from the other side, from me, if it is seen that he is leaning too far to the right.”
At 5:15 p.m., the “five families” are five groups threatening an uprising. (European Research Group, New Conservatives, Northern Research Group, Common Sense Group and Conservative Growth Group) — met one last time to decide how to vote.
Ninety minutes later they appeared at an impromptu press conference reported that after all the drama of the day they had decided to simply abstain.
Rebel leader Sir Mark Francois told waiting media: “We have collectively decided that we cannot support the bill this evening because of its many omissions.
“The Prime Minister told his colleagues today that he is ready to consider the possibility of tightening the bill.
“To this end, at committee stage we will seek to introduce amendments which – if passed, we hope – will significantly improve the bill and address some of its shortcomings.”
Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Conservative MP Group Committee, said the decision to withhold support and abstain was «a chance for the government to listen.»
He said: «We believe this participation provides an opportunity to make this bill do what it says on the tin, which is to provide an opportunity to implement the Rwandan policy and thus fulfill the Prime Minister's promise to stop the boats.
“We will look at what the government will do next. What they do next will determine what we do next. That means we will wait until the third reading.”
It was tough talk from the rebels, raising speculation that Mr Sunak was simply pushing defeat back to the new year if he refuses to bow to the right. wing demands.
After the vote results were announced at 7.30pm on Tuesday evening as a clear victory for the government, the Prime Minister backed the chief whip.
He could be forgiven for that he breathed a sigh of relief.
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