It’s crunch week for Rishi Sunak

It’s a crunch week for Rishi Sunak as MPs prepare to cast their verdict on his Safety of Rwanda bill. The bill, which aims to get the government’s ‘stop the boats’ policy off the ground by unilaterally declaring Rwanda a safe country, returns to the Commons on Tuesday for its committee stage. There could then be a third reading vote as early as Wednesday night.

Unfortunately for Sunak, as many as 60 Tory rebels on the right are getting behind amendments to toughen up the bill and reduce the opportunity for would-be migrants to appeal. This could ultimately lead to a resignation, with Tory party deputy chairman Lee Anderson considering voting with the rebels. In a sign of the times, allies of cabinet ministers appear, too, to see the upside of talking tough on the bill even if they don’t want to resign – with the Times running a story