Nigel Farage has once again taken aim at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak regarding the ongoing Rwanda deportation issue, as Reform UK sees a rise in public support according to the latest polls.
Fresh from his stint in the Australian jungle on “I’m A Celebrity,” where he claimed third place, the former Ukip leader has swiftly re-immersed himself in the political arena.
Farage has cautioned that the topic of immigration will overshadow the next general election unless the Prime Minister addresses it promptly.
Sunak is currently contending with the challenge of rallying the Conservative Party behind his new deportation initiative, aimed at resuming flights to Rwanda, which is set to face its initial test in the House of Commons tonight.
According to a recent survey by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, Reform UK, under the leadership of Richard Tice with Farage serving as honorary president, has climbed to 11 percent in voter support, trailing the Liberal Democrats by just two points.
Nevertheless, a separate poll conducted by YouGov indicates that Farage’s individual popularity has seen little change following his participation in the reality TV show.
Speaking on GB News – where he is a presenter – from Australia he said: ‘The next general election and British politics for some years to come will be utterly and completely dominated by the immigration issue…
A new poll by Redfield & Wilton Strategies has Reform UK, led by Richard Tice but with Farage as honorary president, on 11 per cent, up one and just two percentage point behind the Liberal Democrats.
The I’m A Celebrity bronze medal winner and former Ukip leader hit out after emerging from the Australian bush to leap straight back into UK politics .
‘Will the backbenchers have the guts to vote it down? Well normally they march up to the top of the hill and they march back down again. Most of them are a spineless bunch. I hope that I’m proved wrong.
‘What is for certain is that Sunak is on course to lead the Conservative Party to their worst election result in modern times and frankly, I think they deserve pretty much everything that’s coming to them.’
The PM is facing the biggest test of his premiership so far as he scrambles to defuse a mutiny by right-wingers who are demanding the government toughens up emergency legislation to revive the deportation scheme.
The Tory right has warned that ‘major surgery’ is still needed to fix the flagship Safety of Rwanda Bill, with as many as 40 MPs prepared to either abstain or vote against it. In theory 29 Tories going into the No lobby, or 57 abstaining, would be enough to thwart the premier.
Lee Anderson, the Conservative deputy chairman, Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger were among those arriving for the breakfast meet – where they were served smoked salmon.
In a sign of alarm among Tory whips, MPs on one Commons committee are said to have been ordered to return from a Caribbean trip in order to take part in the showdown.
Former Cabinet ministers Dame Priti Patel, Ben Wallace and David Davis have been mobilised as Downing Street desperately tries to contain the chaos, delivered a stark message that defeat for Mr Sunak could collapse the Government and force a general election.
If it is voted down it would be the first time since 1986 that a government Bill has not secured a second reading, which is usually a formality before amendments are brought later in the process.
MPs Neil O’Brien, Marco Longhi, Jill Mortimer, Lia Nici and Alexander Stafford were also seen arriving for the meeting in No10 this morning.
No10 has been playing down the prospect of amending the Bill at a later stage, arguing that the text goes as far as possible without breaching international law.
But touring broadcast studios this morning illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson – who replaced Robert Jenrick after he resigned in protest at the legislation – insisted he is ‘very much in listening mode’.
He told Sky News: ‘They’re not pesky rebels – they are respected colleagues who I have worked with.’
Mr Tomlinson said he is a former member of the ERG, one of the Tory factions critical of the Bill, and ‘I know the concerns that colleagues have’.
‘I knew the desire of colleagues right across the breadth of our broad church in the parliamentary party. What do they want? They want this Bill to work.
‘The way I’m going to help to persuade them to support the Bill and to support us as we pass the Bill through Parliament is to help show that the Bill is actually going to work, because that’s what we all want. We all want this legislation to work. And that is what I’m determined to do.’
Writing in the Mail today, Dame Priti urged fellow Right-wingers to unite behind the legislation and take the fight to Labour.
The former Home Secretary insisted: ‘The choice all MPs face today is a stark one. To oppose the Rwanda Bill, do nothing and continue to offer succour to the evil people-smuggling gangs putting lives at risk and putting pressures on our asylum system.
‘Or to vote in favour of the Bill, work with the government to improve it through considering amendments, and ensure the most robust measures to tackle illegal migration are finally implemented in conjunction with the Government of Rwanda.’
She added that now is the time for the Conservatives ‘to work collectively’ and to ‘do the right thing’ for the British public.
Mr Wallace also warned rebels not to ‘wreck’ the Government by voting against the bill.
