Rishi Sunak is braced for what could be the biggest rebellion of this parliament over his illegal migration bill, with many Conservative MPs calling for it to be “toughened up”.
At least 60 Tories are expected to back an amendment that will block judges from granting injunctions to stop migrants being deported, which they believe is the only way the prime minister will meet his mission of actually “stopping the boats”.
There are more than 50 pages of amendments tabled to the bill, including Labour proposals to establish a safe passage visa that would give entry clearance to people already in Europe wishing to come to the UK to make an asylum claim led by the backbencher Olivia Blake.
Conservative insiders believe the prime minister faces a real problem on Monday because the toughest amendments are said to be supported by Tories who are also calling for legal safe routes and support for victims of modern slavery, one of whom is said to be a former Conservative party leader.
“There’s a lot of affection for Rishi and Suella” but unless the home secretary makes a “generous offer at the dispatch box we won’t consider putting our toys back inside the box”, a source said.
“A big problem for Rishi is that a significant amount of 2019 ‘red wall’ MPs already see their future, working as an accounts director for a medium-sized public affairs firm, so they want to get onboard and back [Sir Bill Cash’s] amendment,” the source added.
The bill promises to clamp down on asylum seekers travelling to the UK by irregular means, such as in small boats or hidden in the backs of lorries, by making all of these claims ineligible for consideration in the UK. It also gives the Home Office the power to remove children seeking asylum from the country.
A former minister, calling for more support to be given to modern slavery victims, believes Braverman and Sunak are wrongly focusing on those being trafficked rather than those doing the trafficking.
Another senior Conservative minister backing Tim Loughton’s safe and legal routes amendment trashed Cash’s amendment. “It’s time for grownup politics. Let’s have the grownups back in the room, as we’ve shown with the Windsor framework. Instead of this ‘everybody hates us and we don’t care.’ Brexit is done, we need to move on.”
Moderate Tories are believed to be waiting to hold their arguments on the application of the modern-day slavery proposals until after the first round of amendments has passed.
