Rishi Sunak has publicly pleaded with MPs to back his Rwanda bill just hours before the key vote on Tuesday evening.
The bid for his latest plan to “stop the boats” comes as it was confirmed that an asylum seeker died on the Bibby Stockholm barge, the accommodation used by the government to house migrants.
The prime minister hosted an emergency breakfast in Downing Street on Tuesday morning with potential Tory rebels to convince them to support the bill which will see asylum seekers flown to Rwanda.
“Today MPs will vote on the toughest ever anti-illegal immigration legislation,” he said in a post on social media site X.
“This Bill will allow us to control who comes into this country – not criminal gangs or foreign courts. To stop the boats, we need to back this Bill.”
However, the New Conservative group of backbenchers said the bill needs “major surgery or replacement” following a meeting on monday night, ahead of the highly-anticipated vote on Tuesday evening
Mark Francois, chairman of the European Research Group (ERG), also told Mr Sunak there was a “consensus” among right-wing Tory MPs that he should “pull” the Rwanda bill.
