Kemi and Gove’s Cabinet clash on Rwanda

When the Rwanda Bill had its second reading in the House of Commons just before Christmas, there was a revolt on the right of the Tory party. A group of legal experts, with the self-appointed ‘Star Chamber’ title, were convened by Eurosceptic MPs. They declared that Rishi Sunak’s plan was not ‘sufficiently watertight’ to allow deportations to take place, with too many legal loopholes vulnerable to exploitation. They said they would vote against the bill unless changes were made. In the end, Sunak faced down the rebels; only a small number came out against him.

Soon after the vote, the cabinet met. Michael Gove was quick to congratulate the Prime Minister, contrasting the findings of the ‘Star Chamber’ unfavourably with the verdict of Lord Sumption, a former Supreme Court justice, who had argued Sunak’s policy would work. ‘He was effectively making fun of the Tory right,’ says one attendee.

Kemi Badenoch intervened. According to colleagues, the unimpressed Business Secretary told Gove: ‘The way you talk and think about this issue is wrong,’ she told her colleagues. ‘People are rightly frustrated with a political class that pays lip service to their concerns. They hate that we pretend that we’re bothered but we don’t act.’ The PM commended Badenoch for her intervention; others followed suit on the need to respect valid concerns. Gove, who takes so many notes in cabinet that some colleagues worry he’s collecting memoir material, sat awkwardly. ‘It was brutal,’ says one who was there.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill finally passed the House of Lords this week following a long ping-pong session. So now Sunak must prove that his government can act on voters’ concerns. He’s pledged to get flights taking off in 12 weeks.