Rishi Sunak has tied his term as prime minister to a commitment to curb the rise in irregular immigration to the UK. In the end, it became his political nightmare. The authoritarian and heavy-handed course, bordering on international legality, that his deportation plan to Rwanda entails has not satisfied even the hardline conservative wing, which considers him weak and imperfect and demands that Sunak go further.
About 60 Tory MPs on Tuesday backed changes to legislation tabled in early December that declared the African country a safe place and limited legal options for immigrants to appeal their deportation in court, making deportation even more difficult. One of the changes prevented immigrants from being transferred to Rwanda, with the only exception being that their physical condition did not allow them to fly. The other called for any precautionary decision by the European Court of Human Rights aimed at blocking one of these flights to be automatically rejected.
In the hours before the vote, former prime minister Boris Johnson, who always chooses the most sensitive moments to settle his outstanding scores with Sunak – he accuses him of being a key cause of his political downfall – continued to voice his support for the rebels The law should be as robust as possible, and that would be appropriate [por parte del Gobierno] Accept the amendments,” Johnson wrote.
The rebel MPs are trying to sweeten their mutiny with speeches of good intentions and praise for Sunak's aim. Your excuses are legal. They claim that the law, which passed its first reading in early December and is still going through the parliamentary process, leaves many loopholes that could be exploited by irregular immigrants, “left-wing advocates” – in the words of former foreign secretary Robert Jenrick Immigration and one of the rebel leaders – and humanitarian organizations with the aim of paralyzing deportations for months, either before British or international justice.
The penultimate battle
The Sunak government, backed by the Labor opposition, managed to get the House of Commons to largely reject the Tory rebels' amendments. But the humiliation is obvious: 60 votes, even though Downing Street had made it clear that it was imposing electoral discipline, is a lot of dissent. To make matters worse, two of the rebels held key positions in the leadership of the Conservative Party as vice-presidents and tendered their resignations to Sunak as soon as he supported the amendments, knowing full well that they would be removed from their posts after he committed the insubordination.
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However, the tone of the letter from Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith made it clear that they did not want the blood to reach the river: “Prime Minister, you have promised to do everything in your power to stop the arrival of boats .” [con inmigrantes que cruzan el canal de la Mancha]. He was clear about his plan for Rwanda and made it clear that he will not allow a foreign court to block these flights. “You have 100 percent support from us and the voters of our constituencies,” says her resignation text.
However, Sunak still cannot breathe a sigh of relief. After the amendments were rejected, the original text of the law will be voted on again in the House of Commons this Wednesday. Had the 60 rebels abstained or about 30 of them voted against – the Labor opposition had already expected their rejection – the Rwanda plan would not have been implemented and the prime minister would have been defeated in a vote that many interpreted as a trustworthy motion would .
Sunak's secret trick is, paradoxically, polls that predict a clear defeat for the Conservatives. Unlike the riots that Theresa May experienced over Brexit, where the mutineers knew they could put Johnson in Downing Street, this time there is no replacement, and British citizens would not agree to any other replacement did not go to the polls. .
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