Rishi Sunak Prepares To Face Down "Unpredictable" Tory Rwanda Rebels

Rishi Sunak is braced for a critical and unpredictable day in the House of Commons, as dozens of disgruntled Conservative MPs decide whether to use a vote on Rwanda legislation to torpedo one of the Prime Minister's flagship policies.

Ahead of Wednesday evening's vote, Government will hold talks with 60 Tory backbenchers who defied the Prime Minister on hardline right-wing amendments to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill on Tuesday night, in a bid to dissuade them from rebelling again when the MPs vote on the Bill as a whole. If the Bill does not pass through the Commons at this third reading stage it will collapse.  

Two deputy party chairmen and one parliamentary private secretary lost their jobs in order to back the amendments tabled by ex-home office minister Robert Jenrick and senior Brexiteer Bill Cash.

While 58 Conservative MPs voted against the government last night, only around 30 would need to do so later today to inflict a humiliating defeat on Sunak. A defeat in the House of Commons would not only cast doubt over the future of the government's Rwanda policy, but also raise questions about the Prime Minister's grip on power. 

As of Wednesday morning, the feeling across the Conservative party, including within Government, was that the number of rebels would fall short of the number needed for the Bill to fall. A large number of Tory backbenchers who voted for last night's amendments are expected to abstain at Wednesday's third reading.

But with many hours to go until the vote, there is also a large degree of uncertainty, with anger on the right of the Conservative party simmering over how they feel Downing Street has treated their concerns about possible challenges to deporting people to Rwanda if