U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced a rebellion over his signature immigration policy while fending off tough questions about his judgment during the pandemic.
LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced a rebellion from restive lawmakers over his signature immigration policy, while fending off tough questions Monday about his judgment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The twin pressures add up to one of the toughest weeks of Sunak’s 13 months in office, with both his present authority and past record at stake.
Meanwhile, Sunak is battling to save the Rwanda plan, a key part of his pledge to stop unauthorized migrants from trying to reach England from France in small boats. More than 29,000 people have done so this year, down from 46,000 in all of 2022.
The plan has already cost the government 240 million pounds ($300 million) in payments to Rwanda, which agreed in 2022 to process and settle hundreds of asylum-seekers a year from the U.K. But no one has yet been sent to the country, and last month the U.K. Supreme Court ruled the plan illegal, saying Rwanda isn’t a safe destination for refugees.
In response, Britain and Rwanda signed a treaty pledging to strengthen protections for migrants. Sunak’s government argues that the treaty allows it to pass a law declaring Rwanda a safe destination, regardless of the Supreme Court ruling.
The law, if approved by Parliament, would allow the government to “disapply” sections of U.K. human rights law when it comes to Rwanda-related asylum claims.
The bill faces opposition from centrist Conservative lawmakers concerned that it sidelines the courts, and from legislators on the party’s authoritarian wing who think the legislation is too mild because it leaves migrants some legal routes to challenge deportation, including at the European Court of Human Rights.
The hard-line European Research Group of Conservative lawmakers said that the bill “provides a partial and incomplete solution” and needs major changes. Group member Mark Francois urged Sunak to rework the bill before putting it to a vote, but didn’t say whether he would vote against it if that didn’t happen.
If the bill passes Tuesday’s vote, weeks of wrangling and more votes in Parliament lie ahead. Defeat would leave the Rwanda plan in tatters, and would threaten Sunak’s leadership.
Sunak believes delivering on his promise to “stop the boats” will allow the Conservatives to close a big opinion-poll gap with the opposition Labour Party before an election that must be held in the next year.
But some Tory lawmakers think he is bound to fail, and are contemplating a change of leader. Under party rules, Sunak will face a no-confidence vote if 53 lawmakers — 15% of the Conservative total — call for one.
Others argue that it would be disastrous to remove yet another prime minister without a national election. Sunak is the third Conservative prime minister since the last election in 2019, after the party ejected both Johnson and his successor, Liz Truss.
Lawmaker Damian Green, a leading Conservative moderate, said that anyone who wanted to change the party leader again is “either mad, or malicious, or both.”
