Politics latest: Crunch week for Rwanda bill after MPs reject Lords' amendments (2024)

Thank you for joining us on the Politics Hub for a busy day as MPs returned to Westminster after the Easter recess.

Here's what happened:

• Rishi Sunak gave a statement to the Commons after Iran's attack on Israel, saying: "All sides must show restraint";
• But he rebuffed calls from MPs across the House to proscribe Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is responsible for much of the terrorism and instability in the Middle East;
• Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron told Sky News that he urges Israel "not to escalate" in the Middle East, agreeing with US president Joe Biden's assertion that they should "take the win" of having prevented Saturday's attack;
• The Commons rejected seven Lords amendments to the government's flagship Rwanda bill, meaning the parliamentary ping-pong continues;
• That came on the day that a total of 534 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Sunday, the highest number on a single day so far this year;
• The Lib Dems demanded that ex-PM Liz Truss be stripped of the Tory whip over "conspiracy theories";
• In a series of interviews promoting her new book, she refused to rule out standing again for the Tory leadership, saying she has "unfinished business".

Join us again from 6am for the very latest political news.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman has penned an op-ed in which she attempts to dismantle arguments against designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist group.

She says in a Telegraph article that the IRGC is "the world's chief sponsor of terrorism" that is "responsible for plotting terrorist attacks, hostage-taking and indoctrination around the world, including in the UK".

She writes that 70 MPs and peers from all parties are demanding proscription, which she argues would "cut the head off the snake here in the UK and [render] it much more difficult for these terrorist sponsors to operate on our streets, and in our communities".

"I’ve heard the argument that the UK would lose access to Tehran by banning the IRGC, but this is weak.

"What good did this so-called 'access' do to stop or mitigate October 7? What good did it do to deter the drones and missiles fired on Israel this weekend? Or the attacks on people in the UK?"

That argument, Mrs Braverman says, is "Foreign Office-speak for: 'We support the status quo and don’t see the need to change things, thank you very much'."

She goes on: "Equally delusional is the claim that our sanctions regime is sufficient to deter the IRGC. This is naive when we know the IRGC circumvent sanctions."

She says Rishi Sunak's government "risks being left on the wrong side of history if it continues to stall on this important step", adding: "It's time we grew a backbone."

Despite Rishi Sunak's woes and battles with his pesky party and peers, the government still wins important votes in the Commons with hefty majorities of around 70.

In six votes on government moves to throw out Lords amendments to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, the majorities were 65, 71, 70, 70, 74 and 59.

So the bill now goes back to the House of Lords for another bout of ping pong - round 3, where the outcome of votes on further amendments is less predictable.

The word from the Lords while MPs were trooping through the lobbies in the Commons was that peers will vote another three or four times on Tuesday, setting up another round of ping pong on Wednesday.

One Lords insider told Sky News: "Some will fall into line tomorrow, clothes peg on the nose and all that, but if the crossbenchers hold firm it's unlikely to be enough to defeat anything pressed to a vote.

"Round 3 on Wednesday is likely to be different, though, as the crossbenchers might then fade a bit and more Tories might be ready to start voting with the government. We'll see."

We will indeed. Opening the two-hour debate in the Commons, illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson was uncompromising - "The entire passage of the bill should prevail."

"We simply cannot allow amendments that provide for loopholes which would perpetuate the current cycle of delays and late legal challenges to removal."

Veteran Tory MP Sir Bill Cash, a serial rebel on Europe for more than 30 years, said the Lords amendments were "ridiculous" and pleaded: "Let's get the House of Lords to calm down a bit."

Good luck, as they say, with that.

So what happens after the bill, as we expect, finally receives Royal Assent and limps on to the statute book later this week?

The parliamentary battle over the bill will be over. But Mr Sunak's battle to get planes in the air and illegal migrants deported to Rwanda almost certainly won't be.

Cabinet minister Victoria Atkins more or less admitted on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News that the government still doesn't appear to have found an airline to take the migrants to Africa.

In other words, the government may win votes in the Commons with hefty majorities, but many of the details of the Rwanda policy are still unclear and opponents are unlikely to give up their fight to keep the deportation flights grounded.

ByFaye Brown, political reporter

Liz Truss has refused to rule out running to be Tory leader again, saying she has "unfinished business" with the Conservative party.

The country's shortest serving prime minister also said the governor of the Bank of England should resign over his response to her catastrophic 2022 mini budget, and that opponents were attempting to "smear" her by blaming the event on the UK's subsequent economic woes.

The Lib Dems branded her a "national embarrassment" following the comments, while Labour said the prospect of her returning to office "will send shivers down the spine of working people".

Ms Truss's tenure in Downing Street lasted just 49 days after her £45bn package of unfunded tax cuts triggered mass market turmoil.

The former prime minister has since doubled down on what she was trying to achieve, and is touring the media ahead of the publication of her book: Ten Years to Save the West.

Read the full story here:

The government has won the final vote of the evening and rejected a seventh Lords amendment.

This one would have prevented the deportation to Rwanda of those who have served with or for the UK's armed forces.

The result is:

• Reject: 312
• Approve: 253

The government has won another vote in the Commons over Rwanda bill amendments.

This one is slightly more complex.

The House of Lords passed an amendment to the bill aiming to stop suspected victims of modern slavery, trafficked to the UK, from being deported to Rwanda.

The Commons rejected that last month - but the Lords insisted on the amendment and sent it back to the Commons.

If the Commons rejected it directly a second time, the entire bill would have failed, which obviously the government does not want.

Therefore, Home Secretary James Cleverly proposed another amendment mandating that he or the person in his job produce a report each year on how the bill is operating in relation to modern slavery laws.

MPs voted, and rejected the Lords amendment and therefore accepted the home secretary's modification.

The result is:

• Reject: 320
• Approve: 246

A total of 534 people were detected crossing the English Chanel on Sunday - the highest number in a single day so far this year, according to Home Office figures.

The cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 now stands at a provisional total of 6,265.

This is 28% higher than the total at the equivalent point last year and 7% higher than the total at this stage in 2022.

Some 10 boats were detected on Sunday, which suggests an average of around 53 people per boat.

Downing Street said the numbers were "unacceptable" and demonstrated the need for the Rwanda deportation scheme to get off the ground.

Read more from our political reporter Faye Brown here:

Another vote, another government win.

MPs have rejected a Lords amendment to the Rwanda bill that would require local authorities to conduct age assessments for those being deported to Rwanda.

The result:

• Reject: 319
• Approve: 249

The government has just defeated another amendment passed by the House of Lords.

This amendment would have allowed individuals to appeal to the courts to stop their deportation to Rwanda on the basis of safety - something the government does not want to be possible.

And in good news for the PM, it has been rejected by the House of Commons.

The result is:

• Reject: 319
• Approve: 249

MPs have just voted on two amendments to the Rwanda legislation, proposed by the House of Lords.

The two being voted on are:

• To mandate that Rwanda is deemed only a safe country once the provisions in the treaty have been fully implemented;
• A mechanism to check Rwanda is complying fully with the treaty - and suspend the treaty if the Independent Monitoring Committee deems it is not.

The government won the vote comfortably, and both amendments have been rejected.

The result of the vote is:

• Reject: 317
• Approve: 246