Rishi Sunak faces 'Conservative meltdown' over Rwanda bill
Boris Johnson and Lee Anderson join Tory rebels who want migrant policy strengthened

Former prime minister Boris Johnson has joined a mounting revolt by right-wing Conservative MPs against Rishi Sunak's Rwanda bill.
Sunak is facing a Tory rebellion over concerns that his Rwanda migration policy will be "scuppered" because, in its current form, the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill allows asylums seekers to lodge individual legal challenges against their deportation, said The Times.
The PM faced a major "blow" to his authority over the weekend, said the BBC, when two deputy chairs of the Tory party, Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith, joined more than 60 MPs in backing amendments to the bill, which will return to the Commons tomorrow. And a further intervention from Johnson, whose administration introduced the Rwanda scheme, has left Sunak facing a "Conservative meltdown", said The Guardian.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Government insiders believe the bill will pass the committee stage on Tuesday without amendments, but the third reading on Wednesday will be a "steeper challenge", as it would take just 29 Tory MPs to rebel, or 57 to abstain, for the bill to fail.
In an attempt to stave off revolt, Downing Street may announce plans to move 150 judges to the upper tribunal – the body that will hear individual legal appeals lodged by asylum seekers under the new legislation – in order to "fast-track" the process, according to The Times. But former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, as well as allies of leading Conservative rebels, told the Financial Times that the plans "did not go far enough".
Even if Sunak does manage to get the bill passed, the "bigger problem for the PM is the rot", said Sky News's Beth Rigby. His government will face individual court battles and "perhaps a tussle" with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. And if in the end his policy doesn't work, he'll "face the wrath not just of many of his MPs but many former Conservative voters too".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
-
Etsy witches and the rise of digital spell-casting
Under the Radar From fixing your love life to hexing a colleague, online sorcerers offer a wide range of services
-
Why is this government shutdown so consequential?
Today's Big Question Federal employee layoffs could be in the thousands
-
Lavender marriage grows in generational appeal
In the spotlight Millennials and Gen Z are embracing these unions to combat financial uncertainty and the rollback of LGBTQ+ rights
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeeze
THE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
-
Oregon sues to stop Trump military deployment
Speed Read The president wants to send the National Guard into Portland
-
Trump declares new tariffs on drugs, trucks, furniture
Speed Read He's putting tariffs of 25% on semi trucks, 30% on upholstered furniture, 50% on kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and 100% on certain drugs