Nigel Farage launched another broadside against Rishi Sunak over Rwanda today, as Reform UK rose again in the polls.
The I’m A Celebrity bronze medal winner and former Ukip leader emerged from the Australian bush to return straight to UK politics.
Farage warned that immigration will dominate the next election if the Prime Minister does not fix the problem soon.
Sunak faces a battle to unite the Conservatives around his new plan to get Rwanda deportation flights off the ground, which faces its first test in the House of Commons tonight.
A new poll from Redfield & Wilton Strategies puts Reform UK, led by Richard Tice but with Farage as honorary chairman, on 11 per cent, one and just two percentage points behind the Liberal Democrats.
However, an independent poll by YouGov suggests Farage’s personal popularity has barely increased following his Jungle career.
Speaking on GB News – where he is a presenter – from Australia, he said: “The next general election and British politics for some years to come will be totally and completely dominated by the issue of immigration…
A new poll from Redfield & Wilton Strategies puts Reform UK, led by Richard Tice but with Farage as honorary chairman, on 11 per cent, one and just two percentage points behind the Liberal Democrats.
The I’m A Celebrity bronze medal winner and former Ukip leader emerged from the Australian bush to return straight to UK politics.
Will parliamentarians have the courage to reject it? Well, usually they march to the top of the hill and back down again. Most of them are a cowardly bunch. I hope I am proven wrong.
“What is certain is that Sunak is on course to lead the Conservative Party to its worst election result in modern times and, frankly, I think they deserve pretty much everything that is coming to them.”
The prime minister faces the biggest test of his tenure yet as he battles to defuse a riot by right-wingers demanding the government toughen emergency legislation to revive the deportation plan.
The conservative right has warned that “major surgery” is still needed to fix Rwanda’s flagship security bill, with up to 40 MPs set to abstain or vote against it. In theory, 29 Conservatives joining the No lobby, or 57 abstaining, would be enough to frustrate the prime minister.
Lee Anderson, the Conservative vice-chairman, Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger were among those who arrived for breakfast, where they were served smoked salmon.
In a red flag among Conservatives, MPs on a House of Commons committee are said to have been ordered to return from a trip to the Caribbean to take part in the standoff.
Former cabinet ministers Dame Priti Patel, Ben Wallace and David Davis, mobilized as Downing Street desperately tries to contain the chaos, sent a clear message that Sunak’s defeat could collapse the Government and force a general election.
If rejected, it would be the first time since 1986 that a government bill has not received a second reading, which is usually a formality before amendments are introduced later in the process.
MPs Neil O’Brien, Marco Longhi, Jill Mortimer, Lia Nici and Alexander Stafford were also seen arriving at the meeting at Number 10 this morning.
Number 10 has been downplaying the possibility of amending the bill at a later stage, arguing that the text goes as far as possible without violating international law.
But this morning, as he toured the television studios, Illegal Immigration Minister Michael Tomlinson – who replaced Robert Jenrick after he resigned in protest at the legislation – insisted he is “very much in listening mode”.
He told Sky News: “They are not annoying rebels, they are respected colleagues I have worked with.”
Tomlinson said he is a former member of the ERG, one of the conservative factions critical of the bill, and “I know the concerns his colleagues have.”
‘I knew the desire of colleagues from across our broad church in the parliamentary party. What they want? They want this bill to work.
‘The way I’m going to help persuade them to support the bill and to support us as we pass it through Parliament is to help demonstrate that the bill is actually going to work, because that’s what we all want . We all want this legislation to work. And that’s what I’m determined to do.”
Writing in the Mail today, Dame Priti urged right-wing peers to unite behind the legislation and take the fight to the Labor Party.
The former Minister of the Interior insisted: ‘The choice that all parliamentarians face today is tough. To oppose the Rwanda bill, do nothing and continue to offer help to the evil human trafficking gangs who put lives at risk and put pressure on our asylum system.
“Or vote in favor of the bill, work with the government to improve it by considering amendments and ensure that the strongest measures to address illegal migration are finally implemented together with the Rwandan government.”
He added that now is the time for the Conservatives to “work collectively” and “do the right thing” for the British public.
Wallace also warned rebels not to “ruin” the Government by voting against the bill.
