Foreign News

Rishi Sunak sees off Tory rebellion in Rwanda bill vote

Published

3 years ago

2023/12/13

Priyan

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has seen off a Tory rebellion over his flagship Rwanda bill but still faces a battle to get it through Parliament.

The legislation comfortably passed its first Commons hurdle with a majority of 44, but there will be further votes in the new year. No Tory MPs voted against but some critics on the right of the party rebelled by abstaining.

Rebels said they had been told the PM would consider “tightening” the bill. But this could risk losing the support of more centrist Tory MPs, who have warned they would oppose any future changes which would breach international law.

The emergency legislation was drawn up to revive the government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda. The government say the scheme is designed to deter migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats – something Mr Sunak has made one of his key priorities.

In a sign of nerves in Downing Street over the potential for a tight result, Climate Minister Graham Stuart flew back from the COP28 climate conference in Dubai to vote.

But despite some Tories on the right threatening to vote against the bill, in the end only opposition MPs did, and the bill passed by 313 votes to 269. Some 37 Tory MPs – including former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, who resigned over the legislation last week, and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman – did not record a vote.

The majority of these come from factions who earlier said they could not support the bill and are likely to have deliberately abstained. However, others may have been unable to attend to vote.

Shortly before the vote, five factions of backbench MPs – the European Research Group (ERG), the New Conservatives, the Common Sense Group, the Conservative Growth Group and Northern Research Group – announced they could not support the bill in its current form.

They plan to propose amendments and said they could vote the bill down when it returns to the Commons in the new year if the changes they wanted were not accepted.

ERG chairman Mark Francois, who was among those who abstained, told BBC News: “Our objection was that we don’t believe, as it’s currently drafted, the bill is firm enough to ensure that flights will take off to Rwanda. The prime minister had said that he would entertain tightening up the bill. We’re taking him at his word,” he said. “A number of MPs voted with the government tonight because they were told in private that there would be amendments later on.” However, agreeing to their demands would create new problems for the government.

The centrist One Nation group, which includes more than 100 Tory MPs, had recommended that its members vote for the bill, but warned it would oppose any future amendments “that would mean the UK government breaching the rule of law and its international obligations”.

Tougher legislation may also be more difficult to get through the House of Lords.

One Nation chairman Damian Green told BBC News the vote had seen far fewer abstentions than expected and that “if the government sticks to its guns then it can probably get this legislation through intact”.

Home Office Minister Chris Philp said the government would listen to ideas from MPs on how to improve the bill. “Like with any bill, government ministers will be talking to members of Parliament to see if there are ways of tightening this even further, to improve the drafting to make sure there are absolutely no loopholes at all,” he added.

The bill seeks to declare in UK law that Rwanda is a safe country to send asylum seekers to, after the Supreme Court ruled the policy was unlawful last month.

However, critics on the right of the party have argued it is not currently strong enough to prevent legal challenges to deportations.

A No 10 spokesperson said the bill was “the toughest legislation ever introduced to Parliament” and “makes clear that this Parliament, not any foreign court is sovereign”.

“We will now work to ensure that this bill gets on to the statute book so that we can get flights off to Rwanda and stop the boats,” the spokesperson added.

Labour voted against the bill, along with other opposition parties, and the party has said it would scrap the Rwanda plan if it wins the next election.

It says the millions of pounds given to Rwanda as part of the deal would be better spent tackling people-smuggling gangs.

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The Conservatives’ civil war is continuing, and the country is paying the price for this chaos.

“Today’s debate shows how weak Rishi Sunak is with this Tory psychodrama now dragging on into the new year.”

(BBC)

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Foreign News

Head teacher evacuated 900 children minutes before school washed away by Nepal floods

Published

1 day ago

2026/08/30

Priyan

A head teacher’s quick decision to evacuate his school saved 900 pupils from deadly flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border

Rajendra Dawadi tells the BBC he was tipped off about incoming flood waters and moved students to higher ground with just minutes to spare. One pupil says she and her friends survived by just 10 seconds and watched as a nearby bazaar was swept away

Wednesday’s disaster has killed at least 794 people and more than 2,500 people are missing in Nepal, local officials say

In Tibet, the official death toll is 16, with 546 reported to be missing, according to Chinese state media –

[BBC]

Foreign News

Ferry carrying 260 people capsizes off northern Cyprus coast

Published

1 day ago

2026/08/30

Priyan

A ferry carrying around 260 people has capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus with a search underway for survivors, according to local media.

The catamaran-style boat was travelling from the port of Kyrenia, also known as Girne, and started sinking a few kilometres off the coast of the island state on Sunday.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

[Aljazeera]

Foreign News

Ex-White House teleprompter operator ordered to pay $172,000 for Trump speech bets

Published

3 days ago

2026/08/29

Priyan

The staffer was found to have made tens of thousands of dollars through betting on what the president would say in his speeches (BBC)

A former White House teleprompter operator has been ordered to pay more than $172,000 (£127,000) for using inside information to bet on US President Donald Trump’s speeches.

Gabriel Perez was found to have made trades on what the president would say during addresses between December 2025 and February 2026 on Kalshi – a prediction markets platform where users can bet on real-world events.

Its regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said Perez would have to surrender profits of $107,539.02 (£79,452) and pay a civil penalty of $65,000 (£48,000).

The White House has not yet commented. In July then press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Perez was on unpaid leave and would not return to his post.

Announcing the settlement on Friday, the CFTC said Perez had “misappropriated” his prior knowledge of Trump’s speeches to place bets “in breach of his duty of trust and confidence”.

It said his civil penalty had been reduced due to his “exemplary co-operation” with the investigation.

Perez has also been banned from trading for three years.

Writing on X, Kalshi’s lead lawyer Bobby DeNault welcomed the decision: “It doesn’t matter who you are: violate our rules or federal law and you will face the consequences.”

(BBC)