Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.
7 min listen
The government has won this evening’s vote on the ‘safety of Rwanda’ bill comfortably at 313 votes to 269 against. This means Rishi Sunak has managed to pass his bill at second reading after a day of negotiations with the various Tory tribes. Not a single Tory MP voted against the bill but 38 conservative MPs abstained. Katy Balls and James Heale discuss what comes next.
The government has won Tuesday's vote on the ‘Safety of Rwanda’ Bill comfortably at 313 votes to 269 against. This means Rishi Sunak has managed to pass his Bill at second reading after a day of negotiations with the various Tory tribes. Not a single Tory MP voted against the Bill. Thirty-eight conservative MPs abstained in total of which 29 Tory MPs abstained on principle. If the 29 had all voted against the Bill, this would have been enough to block it at second reading. The result comes after various sceptic Conservative factions – including the European Research Group (ERG) and the New Conservatives – advised their members to abstain. The result will come as a relief to No. 10 following talk in the Conservative party that the vote could come down to the wire.
13 min listen
Rishi Sunak faces the first major test of his premiership today over the second reading of the Rwanda bill. How could the day play out? And what will happen if the Prime Minister loses the vote? Natasha Feroze speaks to Katy Balls and James Heale.
Rishi Sunak faces the most important vote of his premiership this evening when his 'Safety of Rwanda' bill has its second reading in the Commons. The bill seeks to finally get migrant flights off the ground by declaring Rwanda to be 'safe'. If passed, the legislation will also mean that some international laws will have no effect, making a legal challenge – such as the Supreme Court's verdict last month that the government's previous version of the Rwanda scheme was unlawful – less likely. However, Sunak's third way has led to both the right and left of the party voicing concerns and doubts over whether it will pass at second reading. The last time a government bill was defeated at a similar stage was in 1986 on Sunday trading.
It’s back to Brexit in parliament this week as Rishi Sunak puts his plan B to salvage the government’s flagship Rwanda scheme to a vote in the Commons. The Safety of Rwanda Bill – which declares that Rwanda is a safe place to send illegal migrants and states that international laws including the Human Rights Convention will have no effect – has its second reading tomorrow. The last time a government bill was defeated at a similar stage was in 1986 on Sunday trading. The reason defeat is viewed as a possibility is that both the left and right of the party have issues with the policy: the right says it does not go far enough while the left says it goes too far.
13 min listen
Nick Robinson asked Suella Braverman on the Today programme this week whether the Tories had a death wish. She said no. But why is the party, when it's doing so badly in the polls, fighting among itself? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls ands Craig Oliver, former director of communications in No. 10.
10 min listen
Rishi Sunak is stuck in a migration quagmire and will be spending the weekend drumming up support from MPs ahead of the vote on his amended Rwanda bill on Tuesday. He will be hoping for a Christmas miracle in the form of support from both One Nation MPs and those on the right of the party. Will Tuesday's vote be a de facto confidence vote in the prime minister? Cindy Yu speaks to Katy Balls and James Heale.
34 min listen
Jacqui Smith was born in Malvern, where she joined the Labour party aged 16. After graduating from Oxford, Jacqui moved to London and worked briefly as a parliamentary researcher but trained to be a teacher and became head of economics. The temptation to electoral politics eventually pulled her back. Having failed the first time, Jacqui became the MP for Redditch in 1997 – labeled one of ‘Blair’s babes’. Within two years, Jacqui joined the government, and under Gordon Brown, she became the first female Home Secretary, a post she later described as a ’poisoned chalice’ to her successor. She resigned over a dispute related to parliamentary expenses, spending a few years as backbench MP. Since leaving politics Jacqui has served as Chair on several public and private posts.
17 min listen
Kate Andrews speaks to James Heale and Katy Balls about Robert Jenrick's resignation last night and whether this is another sign of Tory party implosion.
Where does the Tory party sit after Robert Jenrick's resignation over the Prime Minister's Rwanda policy? Jenrick's decision to quit yesterday meant Rishi Sunak's attempts to sell his Rwanda plan fell into disarray within an hour of the policy being revealed. No further resignations have followed yet, but the bigger problem for Sunak is what does the right of the party do now: will they refuse to support his Rwanda Bill? And if Sunak fails to change course, will this group of MPs decide they have no confidence in the Prime Minister? Suella Braverman gave a hint of the next steps this group are planning when she appeared on Radio 4's Today programme this morning.
Rishi Sunak used his appearance before the 1922 committee this evening to tell MPs – once again – that the choice facing them was ‘unite or die’. He argued that the only choice facing the Tory party was to get behind his Rwanda 'Plan B' or to lose to Labour. Alas that message appears to have held little to no sway with his former ally Robert Jenrick, who has this evening resigned from government. After rumours swirled this evening, Jenrick has confirmed he has stepped down from his post stating: ‘I cannot continue in my position when I have such strong disagreements with the direction of the Government’s policy on immigration.’ Jenrick has already been pretty vocal about his reservations over Sunak’s legal migration plans.
Rishi Sunak made an impromptu appearance at the 1922 committee tonight as he sought to sell his ‘Plan B’ on Rwanda to restive Tory MPs. This evening the government published the Bill – which asserts that ministers have the power to ignore judgments from Strasbourg but stops short at ‘disapplying’ the ECHR. This means it doesn’t go as far as what former home secretary Suella Braverman called for. Speaking to MPs, Sunak said it was the furthest the government could go, as had they gone ‘one inch further’ and ousted the courts entirely, the Rwandan government would not have backed it and there would be no Rwanda scheme to action.
Few Labour politicians have anything nice to say about Margaret Thatcher, so when Keir Starmer wrote an op-ed over the weekend praising her for bringing ‘meaningful change’ he was looking for a reaction. The left of the party obliged, calling her legacy destructive and chastising Starmer. Even some former Blairites stepped in to say the Labour leader had gone too far. His comments were part of his ongoing pitch to win over former Tory voters who feel, as he puts it, ‘disillusioned, frustrated, angry, worried’. But for those who are trying to get a sense of Starmer and his plans for the country, his article is unlikely to have helped.
14 min listen
As James Cleverly meets leaders in Rwanda to sign a new asylum treaty, the government has laid out a series of plans to bring down legal migration. Some Tories on the right would like the measures to go further, but are these policies too little too late? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Spectator writer, Patrick O'Flynn.
11 min listen
This weekend Keir Starmer's team took the opportunity to discuss Margaret Thatcher in an op-ed for the Sunday Telegraph. Whilst Starmer also praised other former prime ministers – such as Tony Blair and Clement Attlee – his admission that ‘Margaret Thatcher sought to drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism', has ruffled a few feathers in the Labour party. Could this be a genius piece of politics to reach out to those on the right? Or is it a misfire? Also on the podcast, Rishi Sunak has started the week with the news that he has recorded his lowest rating ever in the latest ConservativeHome league table, racking up a dire -25.4 among card-carrying Conservatives. Can he turn it around?
Rishi Sunak has had a bad start to the week, with the latest ConservativeHome cabinet league table placing him at the very bottom at minus 25.4, just below his Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Now, the Prime Minister is hoping to move his government onto firmer ground with a package of measures aimed at reducing legal migration. Sunak has been under renewed pressure to act since new figures showed that net migration reached a record high of 745,000 in 2022. Given the Tories promised to reduce overall levels of migration in the party's 2019 manifesto, they are some way off delivering their pledge. When the Home Secretary addresses the Commons later, the measures will include raising the minimum salary threshold for a skilled worker visa from the current level of £26,200.
This week: Katy Balls on what the Elgin Marbles row is really about (00:56); Lionel Shriver on feckless politicians when it comes to immigration (06:43) and Marcus Walker on his rage against multi-faith prayer rooms (15:37).
14 min listen
Former chancellor Alistair Darling passed away this week, aged 70. To discuss his career, life and legacy, Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and Catherine MacLeod, former political editor of the Herald, and later a special adviser to Darling.
13 min listen
As Matt Hancock appears before the Covid inquiry for a second day, we take a look at the revelations from the former health secretary, including the allegation that involving the Prime Minister and former prime minister, Boris Johnson. Both are due to be up at the Covid inquiry in the coming weeks. Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and James Heale. Produced by Cindy Yu.
11 min listen
Jeremy Hunt said last night that Labour’s economic plans are ‘fundamentally dishonest’. Is he right, and are the Tories really just as bad? Natasha Feroze speaks to Katy Balls and the FT’s Stephen Bush.
