Tory MPs ignore celebrity entreaties and back immigration bill

Juliet Stevenson on the boat with Dartsa and Orysia, Ukranian refugees who are staying with her. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

The actor Juliet Stevenson has made an 11th-hour plea to Conservative MPs voting on the government’s controversial immigration bill on Wednesday to “be brave and vote with your heart, not with your party membership card”.

Stevenson has urged MPs who are backing the nationality and borders bill to instead back Lords amendments in support of refugees.