In the event that Northern Ireland did become a weak link in the UK’s border security, it is not difficult to imagine a future government preferring to start quietly hiving off Northern Ireland.
The Bill passed its final Commons hurdle by 320 votes to 276, giving the Government a majority of 44.
Liz Truss joined the rebels – who came in at two fewer than those who supported key amendments yesterday evening.
Our deputy editor talks to Newsnight about the challenge posed by Robert Jenrick and other rebels to Rishi Sunak: that to date, trying to thread the needle of creating an effective policy without re-assessing our legal commitments has not worked.
Only by improving this Bill, and by delivering on the Prime Ministers’ pledge to stop the boats, can we assert with confidence that the people’s will has prevailed.
Most Conservative MPs are desparate to avoid one any time soon. It may not have occured to some that bringing down the Bill could bring about precisely the outcome they want to avoid.
These were two of the motions put forward by Robert Jenrick and Sir Bill Cash to toughen up the scheme.
The rebels have a fair case that the Government’s previous attempts to thread the needle on deportations have failed, and may fail again. But that doesn’t mean their amendments would get planes in the air.
The public is absolutely exhausted of politicians who are only prepared to offer half measures, and to see our country limp along in a stupor of inaction and failure.
Again, it is undecided voters who are more hawkish on immigration. The issue’s high salience with swing voters is why it will be an important battleground in the next election.
The exceptional demands placed on our system by the Brexit process should not be treated as a precedent for legislation that deliberately pushes constitutional boundaries.
“It will enable us to create a deterrent so that we actually get people on the planes to Rwanda, and we think that will send a very strong message.”
Excluding many young pro-democracy activists, coupled with the prolonged waiting period for asylum seekers, paints a grim picture of incompetence and ignorance by officials overseeing the process.
The Conservative Party has become far more dependent on older, blue-collar, non-London, non-graduate, pro-Brexit, anti-immigration, and culturally conservative voters to both hold and retain political power – and this remains true today.
Voters believe four of the Government’s five key pledges are more likely to happen under Labour than the Conservatives. Meanwhile, 2019 Tory voters prioritise spending on public services over tax cuts,