There’s trouble ahead for Sunak and his bill
The Prime Minister has avoided the nightmare scenario of seeing his flagship migration policy defeated at the first hurdle.
At the start of this week, it felt as if the Conservatives had become truly ungovernable; Rishi Sunak’s leadership was, briefly, genuinely in question. The decision of the Tory right to postpone their battle over the Rwanda bill, allowing it to pass through the Commons by 313 votes to 269, means the jeopardy has been dialled down.
But Mr Sunak is not out of the woods – not by a long shot. The right of his party has demonstrated that they are thoroughly unhappy with the way he is running things, while the left has put him on notice too. His “no drama” approach to running the country has imploded, and any attempt to shift the focus back to the economy is surely doomed.
The details of this bill will return to the headlines next month when backbenchers push the Government to toughen it, even as the centrist One Nation group seeks to draw a line in the sand over the way it suspends human rights laws in some cases.
That will suck up Mr Sunak’s time, energy and political capital when he would rather be facing outwards than inwards, talking to the public not to his own MPs.
It will be a constant reminder of his own weakness within the party – a theme which Labour is keen to emphasise in the run-up to the next general election.
And it could yet lead to a humiliating defeat, given that the Conservative rebels have insisted they are prepared to vote the Safety of Rwanda Bill down entirely when it comes to a third reading, the make-or-break verdict on any legislation.
Mr Sunak can breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy a (somewhat) merry Christmas – but he will have to endure a very unhappy new year.
