Rwanda Bill passes – but only to keep Sunak in office. It won’t work
Rishi Sunak and his plan to stop the boats: it won’t work, as passed by MPs on January 17, it seems. Why did they back it, then?
Let’s have the BBC report first, before I drop the flipside on you:
Rishi Sunak has succeeded in getting his key Rwanda bill through the House of Commons after a Tory rebellion failed to materialise.
The bill, which aims to stop legal challenges against ministers’ plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, was approved by 320 votes to 276 votes.
Dozens of Tories thought the bill was flawed and had threatened to rebel but in the end, only 11 voted against it… including [Robert] Jenrick and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman – voted against it.
Other Tory MPs on the list include Miriam Cates, Sir Simon Clarke, Mark Francois and Danny Kruger.
The bill now goes to the House of Lords where it will face stiff opposition.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, who did not vote against the Bill, despite voicing reservations, got himself into hot water when the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire interviewed him about it.
Victoria Derbyshire, "So it's not going to work"
Jacob Rees-Mogg, "I hope it will work"
VD, "Of course you do, but you just explained why you think it won't work"
Victoria Derbyshire humiliates Jacob Rees-Mogg pic.twitter.com/rhNFDhVy6R
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) January 17, 2024
You can bet he’s not alone in having voted for something that he doesn’t think will work, simply to keep the status quo in Parliament.
It seems clear that the Rwanda Bill will not achieve what it set out to do – for the reasons Rees-Mogg described in his interview.
There was, therefore, no reason for him and all those other Tory critics of the Bill to support it.
But they did.
The reason they did must be to support Rishi Sunak and keep this from becoming a ‘no confidence’ vote in his leadership – to cling on to office as a government for just a little bit longer.
That’s not good enough. We need MPs who have the courage of their convictions and will vote down bad legislation as they see it. Clearly the Tories don’t have that at all and there is no reason for anybody to support them any more.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the right margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
