The UK Conservative Party is facing its biggest rebellion since Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson came to power, as over 60 Tory MPs rebelled against the government’s Rwanda bill. The legislation is aimed at deterring people from crossing the English Channel in small boats and preparing to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda. The amendment rebels argue that the immigration legislation has loopholes and needs to be made more watertight. Among the rebels are two Conservative Party deputy chairmen, Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith, who resigned after supporting tougher amendments to the bill.
No.10 remains confident that the legislation will pass with a vote on Wednesday, but over 30 Conservative MPs threaten to join the opposition, which could ultimately have the bill fail. Even if the government wins, they will pay the political cost for it, as debates over the issue have exposed divisions within the Conservative Party. To illustrate, at least four Conservative MPs have publicly declared that they would vote against the bill if it remains unchanged.
The Conservatives suffered their biggest rebellion yet, and leadership struggle has stirred up over this issue, with right-wing Tories supporting the calls for stricter supervision of the bill’s provisions. Labour who opposes the bill, commented that it is a failure and, overall the Conservative Party appears to have no sense of direction on the country’s immigration policy program.
Downing Street acknowledged that this is the toughest legislation proposed to tackle illegal migration, and if passed, it could address the problem concerning illegal immigration in the country. However, the rebellion indicates broader challenges within the party, with the issue of immigration being a significant obstacle that the Conservatives must not underestimate
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