On Monday morning, Rishi Sunak is set to face questioning under oath as part of a COVID-19 inquiry. The chancellor will spend several hours answering questions on live television in London on his pandemic-related decisions. This will include the use of furlough, the establishment of lockdowns, and the roll-out of the “Eat Out To Help Out” scheme. The government’s now Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Dame Angela McLean, previously labeled Sunak “Dr Death” for incentivizing nights out with the latter initiative.
In the meantime, Conservative MPs are gathering at Parliament to debate Sunak’s plan to relocate migrants to Rwanda. The “Rwanda Bill” will go to a vote on Tuesday evening. Conservative MPs will listen to the verdict of Sir Bill Cash’s “star chamber,” a panel of lawyers that have evaluated the proposed legislation. Notably, Sir Bill wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that “at present” the wording of the Rwanda Bill is not “sufficiently watertight to meet the government’s policy objectives.”
Additionally, the One Nation group of Conservative MPs will gather in the evening with the aim of setting out a “recommendation” pertaining to the government’s plans. Analysts anticipate that the One Nation grouping, like other groups, will not present a united front, giving the government issues that it will have to face in the future. While nobody is quite certain of the outcome, some analysts feel that the government will manage to “sneak a win” and gain the support of its MPs.
The government is in “listening mode,” and its MPs have been made aware of this. Conservative MPs are preparing for a particularly intense whipping operation to gather support for the “Rwanda Bill.” Labour is expected to vote against the government. However, the bill’s fate may not be sealed even if it does survive the vote. Ultimately, Sunak will likely need to wait until the New Year before he can view the fallout and ramifications of the Conservative Party’s decisiveness on the “Rwanda Bill.
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