So in the end, the rebellion melted away, just 11 Conservative MPs voting against Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill.
Rishi Sunak, of course, has made this legislation that he says will stop the boats, a flagship policy of his government.
There was a very interesting, I think, press conference held yesterday that I think could indicate perhaps what Rishi Sunak thinks could be the policy, the approach to bail out the Conservatives in terms of framing the next General Election.
With the Fixed Term Parliament’s Act gone, what Rishi Sunak does have, even though his party is way behind in the polls, he does have the ability to call the General Election when he wants to. The latest possible date being January 2025.
So that gives the Prime Minister, that gives Rishi Sunak the ability to frame the election on the issues and on the timing, most importantly, that he thinks is most favourable.
So I’m going to put it out there and speculate, not that this is what’s going to happen, but perhaps this is what could end up happening.
Because you saw Rishi Sunak in this press conference yesterday, focus very heavily on the House of Lords warning that the unelected chamber should not be looking to stand away, standing in front of the will of the people, as he described it in reference to the Rwanda Bill.
Now we know that usually the Lords may put amendments but eventually will generally roll over and accept what the elected House of Commons and MPs have said.
There have however been warnings that not only will many in the Lords try and delay and thwart this Rwanda Bill, but in actual fact they could try and stop it. They could try and kill this bill completely.
I’m speculating here, but could it be that Rishi Sunak sees the opportunity here, given he controls the timing of the next General Election, that if the Lords do interfere on the signature piece of legislation that he’s put forward and the MPs have now backed, could it be that he’s waiting for the Lords to try and get in the way to try and block this legislation and call the next general election on the basis of his Rwanda Bill?
