Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will hold a press conference at 10am after his controversial Rwanda bill passed its latest stage in parliament – despite rebellions from his own backbenchers.

The legislation – which aims to deter asylum seekers from making small boat crossings by threatening deportation to the African nation – passed its third reading in the Commons last night with a majority of 44.

But 11 Tory MPs, including former ministers Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick, voted against the bill after days of attempts by a larger group of right-wing Conservatives to toughen up the law with their own amendments.

A further 18 Tory MPs abstained from the vote.

Politics live:
PM to give press conference after Rwanda row

The plan will now head to the Lords for further scrutiny, and is expected to face additional criticism from peers on all sides of the chamber, with a Tory source saying the prime minister was “by no means out of the woods”.

One Conservative frontbench peer told Sky News the government would be “thoroughly beaten” over the Rwanda scheme, adding: “The bill will only be weakened [by the Lords] and that will just throw more grenades onto the green carpets [of the Commons].”

What happens now that MPs have backed Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill?

How did your MP vote on the Rwanda bill?

PM facing further rebellions over Rwanda – as backbench Tories call for Downing Street talks

But a Number 10 spokesman said the passing of the bill by MPs “marks a major step in our plan to stop the boats”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

This latest piece of legislation attempting to get the Rwanda scheme off the ground came as a response to the UK’s Supreme Court, who ruled the plan was “unlawful” late last year.

To address the court’s concerns, the bill designates Rwanda as a “safe country”, and it gives ministers the powers to disregard sections of the Human Rights Act to ensure deportation flights get off the ground.

But it does not go as far as allowing them to dismiss interventions from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) entirely – a demand of some on the right.

The government offered limited concessions to rebels over the course of the week in an attempt to keep them on side – including an increase in judges to handle appeals and changes to the civil service code.

But Mr Sunak also had to prevent a possible rebellion from more centrist Tories, who believe going any further would threaten the UK’s international legal obligations on human rights, as well as ensuring the Rwandan government remained content with the proposals.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

While some of the prominent figures publicly arguing against the bill fell into line when the crunch vote came late last night – including two MPs who resigned their party posts in order to back rebel amendments – others were willing to vote against the government.

Ms Braverman, who was fired as home secretary in Mr Sunak’s last reshuffle, posted on X that the Rwanda bill would “not stop the boats” in its current form and “leaves us exposed to litigation and the Strasbourg court”.

She added: “I engaged with the government to fix it but no changes were made. I could not vote for yet another law destined to fail.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Home Office minister Chris Philp told Sky News the rebels had “sincerely held views on how the bill could be strengthened” and were “perfectly entitled to put their ideas forward and to vote for them as they did”.

But he pointed out that when it came to the “critical vote” to move the legislation on, the majority backed the government.

“This is a critical government policy and a critical government pledge,” he added. “The government has a plan, a plan on the economy, a plan on immigration.

“We are delivering that plan. We’re going to stick with that plan and it’s going to work.”

Mr Philp also denied the internal party row was taking up all the prime minister’s time, telling Kay Burley Mr Sunak “can walk and chew gum at the same time”.

Sky News Monday to Thursday at 7pm. Watch live on Sky channel 501, Freeview 233, Virgin 602, the Sky News website and app or YouTube.

But Labour has called the Conservative Party “a shambles”, and remains strongly opposed to the Rwanda bill.

Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News: “This is a gimmick that means spending £400m. Nobody has gone to Rwanda. It won’t solve the [small boats] problem. You can’t solve the problem by gimmicks.

“And at the heart of this very serious problem is a conversation about whether you have these gimmicks that won’t do the job or whether you spend the money properly on things like cracking down on the criminal gangs, having a proper returns policy.

“You don’t have millions of pounds spent on people in hotels because you’re processing the system fairly [and] efficiently. That’s what it’s got to be. And anything else, quite frankly, is a gimmick.”

Related posts:

Brexit ‘divorce bill’ row as UK dismisses EU’s claim it must pay billions more than was estimated Boris Johnson’s Brexit minister blames Theresa May for problems with Northern Ireland Protocol PM’s Brexit minister resigns from cabinet PM ‘committed’ to National Insurance tax hike despite calls to scrap move Rayner was present at Starmer lockdown beers, Labour confirm What was in the mini-budget and what has been scrapped? Hunt announces new economic council to provide ministers ‘expert advice’ Hunt confirms HS2 will reach central London after reports it might stop in suburbs Sturgeon accuses gender reform opponents of using women’s rights as ‘cloak of acceptability’ for transphobia Scotland’s ‘not proven’ verdict to be scrapped as justice system reforms revealed MP kicked out of Tory party after comparing COVID vaccines to Holocaust Badenoch seeks urgent Fujitsu talks over Post Office compensation