Sunak pleads with MPs to back his Rwanda Bill ‘to stop the boats’

The Prime Minister is urging MPs to back his Rwanda plan despite legal experts warning it has “holes in it.”

Rishi Sunak is battling to save his position as its been reported that Tory MPs are preparing a revolt over the Rwanda Bill.

Ahead of the House of Commons vote later today the Prime Minister said, “To stop the boats, we need to back this Bill.”

A revolt of just 29 MPs could be enough to defeat the proposed Bill which has not been seen since Margret Thatcher was in power which was over Sunday trading.

Sunak has pleaded with MPs to back his Bill, saying, “Today MPs will vote on the toughest ever anti-illegal immigration legislation.

“This Bill will allow us to control who comes into this country – not criminal gangs or foreign courts. To stop the boats, we need to back this Bill.”

The Prime Minister was told on Monday to scrap the Rwanda Bill as there are “so many holes in it.”

Sunak has attempted to revive the Rwanda scheme in an attempt to stop asylum seekers entering the UK which is costing taxpayers billions.

The chairman of the European Research Group (ERG), Mark Francois said on Monday that the consensus from his wing of the Tory Party is to “pull the bill” and then enter a new “revised version that works better.”

Deputy ERG chairman David Jones told Times Radio, “We believe we have the numbers, if necessary, to stop the bill progressing.

“We would far rather the Government did that itself and spoke to us constructively about a better piece of legislation.”

Former Cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke said that the government should “withdraw the legislation and come back with a new Bill.”

He said, “This is a matter of practical politics as well as principle; we have failed to deliver on our promise to stop the boats twice already.

“There is neither public patience nor sufficient time for us to fail again.”

Illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson – who replaced Robert Jenrick after he resigned, told Sky News, “They’re not pesky rebels – they are respected colleagues who I have worked with.”

“I knew the desire of colleagues right across the breadth of our broad church in the parliamentary party. What do they want? They want this Bill to work.

“The way I’m going to help to persuade them to support the Bill and to support us as we pass the Bill through Parliament is to help show that the Bill is actually going to work, because that’s what we all want. We all want this legislation to work. And that is what I’m determined to do.”