Rwanda: Sunak faces down disgruntled right-wing Tory MPs to win crunch vote in Commons

With Rishi Sunak facing a test of his authority, there appeared to be fears in his administration that a potential rebellion could see the Safety of Rwanda Bill defeated at its first hurdle in the Commons.

But MPs approved the Bill at second reading by 313 votes to 269 on Tuesday, giving the UK Government a comfortable winning majority of 44.

All eight DUP MPs voted against, as did the SDLP’s Colum Eastwood and Claire Hanna.

Stephen Farry of Alliance also voted with the noes.

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."

Tory MPs who had been demanding tougher measures as part of the legislation announced only moments before the crunch vote that they could not support the Bill in its current form.

The announcement had looked to put the Bill in potential jeopardy and there appeared to be nerves in Downing Street, with climate change minister Graham Stuart flown back from last-ditch talks at the Cop28 summit in Dubai to vote for the legislation.

But the outcome proved more comfortable than initially feared for Mr Sunak. The division list showed no Tory MPs voted against the Bill.

There were 38 Conservative MPs listed as having no vote recorded, although this does not automatically equate to an abstention.

Senior Tory MPs who recorded no vote included former home secretary Suella Braverman, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick and former cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke, with all three of them having been outspoken critics of the emergency draft law.

Mark Francois, chairman of the European Research Group (ERG) of Eurosceptic Tories, and Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger from the New Conservatives group also recorded a no vote.

Both their right-wing factions, along with Common Sense Group, the Conservative Growth Group and Northern Research Group announced after a joint meeting in Westminster that they could not back the legislation.

Labour said the result meant the Tory "psychodrama" over tackling Channel crossings, which Mr Sunak has pledged to prevent ahead of a likely general election next year, would "drag on" into 2024.

The division list released by the Commons authorities indicates that 307 Tory MPs voted for the Bill, along with five independent MPs.

Among those supporting the Bill was Peter Bone, who had the Conservative whip suspended and is currently sitting as an independent after an investigation upheld counts of bullying and sexual misconduct against him relating to a staff member. Mr Bone has denied the allegations.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill, along with a new treaty revealed last week with Kigali, is part of Mr Sunak's plan to appease concerns of the Supreme Court about the treatment of asylum seekers.