Tory Rebellion Falls Flat With Rwanda Bill Set To Clear House Of Commons Hurdle

Rishi Sunak's Rwanda Bill is expected to clear its latest House of Commons vote after threats of a major Conservative backbench rebellion appear to have been empty.

The legislation, which is central to the Prime Minister's policy of stopping small boats illegally crossing the Channel, is expected to be approved by a comfortable House of Commons majority after critical MPs on the right of the Tory party signalled a retreat.

The government has been heavily criticised by a sizable wing of backbenchers for whom the Rwanda legislation is not hardline enough in preventing international law from blocking deportation flights to to the African country. Its critics have argued it should cut off all legal avenues for illegal migrants to challenge their deportation, which Government say could risk collapsing the proposal entirely. 

Both tonight and last night, dozens of Conservative MPs voted in favour of amendments which sought to alter the bill to this effect. The amendments were tabled by MPs former home office minister Robert Jenrick and influential Brexiteer Bill Cash.

Ahead of the Bill's third reading on Wednesday, 61 voted for Jenrick's amendment which sought to stop injunctions by the European Court of Human Rights from stopping deportation flights to Rwanda. Two deputy chairmen of the Conservative party, Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke Smith, quit their positions on Tuesday in order to defy the government and back rebel amendments, along with Jane Stevenson, who lost her job as a parliamentary private secretary to business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch.

But as the pivotal vote on the legislation overall approaches on Wednesday night, the vast majority of right-wing critics appear to have decided that the Bill in its current