PM waits to see size of revolt over his immigration plans
Rishi Sunak is waiting to see the size of revolt over his immigration plans from both wings of his party as he enters a crunch week for his premiership.
Two major meetings on Monday – one with One Nation MPs and another with the Tory right – will determine the size of the rebellion on Tuesday over his emergency legislation, which he claims will get flights to Rwanda off the ground.
It takes 29 MPs to vote against, or 57 MPs to abstain, for Mr Sunak’s flagship legislation to be rejected – with no clarity whether he could survive such a defeat in practice.
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The Tory right will meet at midday on Monday, with five different groups represented and addressed by Sir Bill Cash, while the centrist Tory MPs will gather at 6pm and could be addressed by Justice Secretary Alex Chalk.
One Nation Conservative MPs, who represent the centre of the party, insist to the Politics at Jack and Sam’s podcast that some of their group will vote against, while some on the right do not see a way of toughening the bill in a way that will become law.
Robert Jenrick, the newly hardline former immigration minister, has upped pressure on the prime minister by declaring he will not support the bill, stiffening the resistance among some of those on the right.
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PM is facing a crisis sooner or later – analysis
What is the revamped Rwanda asylum plan?
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Crunch week for Sunak’s premiership
Sir Bill, who heads the “star chamber”, has already said the bill does not deliver what is needed and is offering to negotiate further with government.
Meanwhile, newer MPs in the New Conservatives, Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates, have signalled their unhappiness with the proposal for failing to go far enough.
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Can the new Rwanda policy work?
Unlike the Brexit era, there is no organised whipping operation among opponents – meaning there is no way for Downing Street to know what will happen on Tuesday.
They still expect to win the first vote on the bill, but all sides are shaping up for a big battle when the legislation resurfaces early in the new year.
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Russia has all legal tools to use digital financial assets and Bitcoin in foreign trade, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.
Nigel Farage has said he is willing to help incoming US ambassador Lord Mandelson negotiate with Donald Trump’s administration.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer appointed the former New Labour minister earlier this month. He is due to take up his new role in Washington early next year.
In the days after his appointment, one of the managers of Mr Trump‘s presidential election campaign, Chris LaCivita, described him as an “absolute moron”.
In 2019, Lord Mandelson told an Italian newspaper Mr Trump is “little short of a white nationalist and racist”.
But Mr Farage says he is willing to use his connections with Team Trump in the national interest to help foster good US-UK relations – despite his political differences with Sir Keir’s government.
He told the Daily Telegraph: “I am no fan of any of the people in the Labour Party, but if it is in the national interest I have always thought I could be a useful asset if they want to use that – but if they don’t, more fool them.”
Mr Farage speaks at a Trump campaign event in Arizona in 2020. Pic: Reuters
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The Reform UK MP said he could help with talks on trade, tariffs, intelligence-sharing and countering terrorism because “a lot of the members of the president’s cabinet are friends of mine, and many of them long-term friends”.
“I know these people, and in terms of trade, in terms of defence and in terms of intelligence, the US is our most important relationship in the world – forget Brussels,” he said.
Mr Farage first met Mr Trump after the Brexit vote in 2016 – and the pair claim to have been friends ever since.
The Clacton-on-Sea MP was seen at several Republican campaign events in the run-up to the 5 November US election.
But he told the Telegraph he fears the government may be “so split… they might not want to take up my offer”.
On appointing the former New Labour minister, Sir Keir Starmer said: “The United States is one of our most important allies and as we move into a new chapter in our friendship, Peter will bring unrivalled experience to the role and take our partnership from strength to strength.”
The regulation is set for implementation on Feb. 25, 2025, allowing the country’s crypto service providers to halt “risky” crypto transactions with insufficient user information.
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