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Rishi Sunak has seen off a Tory rebellion after his controversial Rwanda bill passed its final hurdle in the Commons.

The bill, which aims to declare that Rwanda is a safe country to deport asylum seekers to, passed by 320 votes to 276 – a majority of 44 for the government.

In total only 11 Tory MPs voted against the bill, including former home secretary Suella Braverman, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, Sir Bill Cash, Sir Simon Clarke, Sarah Dines, James Duddridge, Mark Francois, Andrea Jenkyns, David Jones and co-chairs of the New Conservatives, Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates.

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How did your MP vote on the bill? Find out here

Eighteen Conservative MPs abstained on the bill, including Lee Anderson – who resigned as deputy party chair in protest over the legislation yesterday – former prime minister Theresa May and veteran MP Sir John Hayes.

The bill’s passage came despite the threat of a revolt among Tory MPs, with seven initially saying they would vote against it at third reading, including Ms Braverman and Mr Jenrick.

Mr Sunak had been prepared for a collision with right-wing Tories over the bill, which is aimed at reviving his plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda if they attempt to come to the UK via small boat crossings in the Channel.

The bill, which is designed to enable parliament to confirm Rwanda is a “safe country”, gives ministers the powers to disregard sections of the Human Rights Act, but does not go as far as allowing them to dismiss the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) entirely – a demand of some on the right.

However, speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, one of the rebels, said he ultimately decided to vote in favour of the bill because it was “better than the status quo”.

“After the difficulties of the last few days, the Tory party has come together,” he added.

“Almost everybody in the Tory party wants people who’ve come here illegally to be removed to Rwanda, that is a point of unity.”

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Rwanda bill ‘complies with international law’

Although the bill has passed its third reading, one Tory source also told Sky News ahead of the vote that the prime minister was “by no means out of the woods”.

After passing the third reading in the Commons, the bill will now go through the same process in the House of Lords, where peers are expected to amend the legislation, which will then be debated and voted on.

A process known as parliamentary “ping pong” is likely to ensure when the legislation bounces between the Commons and Lords – where the government does not have a majority – while being amended.

During the debate on the legislation on Wednesday night, MPs considered a series of amendments designed to toughen up the bill before voting on the bill as a whole.

One, proposed by Mr Jenrick, demanded that rule 39 orders from Strasbourg judges should not be binding for the UK.

In June 2022 it was a rule 39 order – which have been referred to as “pyjama injunctions” for the late time at which they are often issued – that prevented the first flight to Rwanda from taking off.

While MPs overall rejected Mr Jenrick’s amendment by a majority of 469 votes, the rebellion was significant – with 67 MPs voting for it.

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That included 61 Tory MPs, including the two tellers who verify the count, in an expression of their unhappiness with elements of the bill.

Downing Street had been engaging with MPs with doubts about the legislation after Mr Sunak suffered the resignation of three MPsMr Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith, deputy chairs of the Conservative Party, and Jane Stevenson, a parliamentary private secretary in the Department for Business and Trade.

The MPs resigned after they backed amendments put forward by veteran MP Sir Bill Cash and Mr Jenrick on Tuesday night.

A Number 10 spokesman said the passing of the bill “marks a major step in our plan to stop the boats”.

“This is the toughest legislation ever introduced in parliament to tackle illegal migration and will make clear that if you come here illegally you will not be able to stay,” they said.

“It is this government and the Conservative Party who have got boat crossings down by more than a third.

“We have a plan, we have made progress and this landmark legislation will ensure we get flights off to Rwanda, deter people from making perilous journeys across the channel and stop the boats.”

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Why Boris’s best mate is off to Reform

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Why Boris's best mate is off to Reform

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.

Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?

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Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

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Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

The trial is part of Project Acacia, an initiative from the RBA exploring how digital money and tokenization could support financial markets in Australia.

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Starmer and Macron agree need for ‘new deterrent’ to stop small boat crossings

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Starmer and Macron agree need for 'new deterrent' to stop small boat crossings

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.

High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.

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The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.

The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.

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However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.

French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.

A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.

“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.

“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”

It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.

“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.

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“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.

He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.

“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.

“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.

“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”

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