Summary

  • The government has comfortably seen off a revolt against its flagship Rwanda bill

  • The vote passed by 313 to 269, a majority of 44

  • No Tory MPs voted against the bill - but party sources suggest 24 chose not to vote for it

  • The proposed law seeks to revive the Rwanda deal, which was ruled unlawful by the UK Supreme Court last month

  • PM Sunak spent the day trying to persuade Conservative MPs, in order to avoid a major defeat which would have significantly dented his authority

  • Tory factions had been deciding whether to support the government’s revised plan for asylum seekers, which declares the east African country "safe"

  • Groups on the right of the party had said they could not support the bill in its current form, suggesting they would abstain or vote against their leader

  • The plan aims to send people who arrive in the UK in small boats to Rwanda by plane, where they could claim asylum

  1. Goodbyepublished at 21:20 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    We're bringing our live coverage to a close - you can find further updates from our politics team here.

    This live page was written by Doug Faulkner, Natasha Preskey, Adam Durbin, Brian Wheeler, Ione Wells, Dominic Casciani, Iain Watson, Chris Mason, Sam Francis, Vicki Young, Henry Zeffman, Emily Atkinson - with editing by Marita Moloney, Owen Amos and John Hand.

  2. Sunak takes the win but the battle is not overpublished at 21:10 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    Chris Mason
    Political editor

    As MPs retreat to Commons bars to debrief - after all the kerfuffle, it was a comfortable win for the government.

    But prime ministers don't normally have to beg to get a planned new law through its very first stage in Parliament, and that is what Rishi Sunak has had to do here.

    A win is a win, though - and a win is the absence of a defeat, which would have been crushing for Sunak.

    Instead, he can say a variation of 'what was all the fuss about?' and press on with his plans. But it is in the pressing on that more fuss lies.

    About an hour before the vote, one Conservative MP texted me saying: "It will go through - he lives to fight another day - but spring election looks more likely as party multi-factional now - not just factional."

    The Conservative Party is split in multiple directions on this policy, and those splits aren't going away.

    You can read more from Chris here.

  3. WATCH: Why Sunak’s Rwanda bill battle isn’t overpublished at 20:58 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    Media caption,

    Watch: Why Sunak’s Rwanda bill battle isn’t over

  4. Far fewer abstentions than expected, says Tory MPpublished at 20:47 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    We're hearing now from Damian Green, part of the One Nation group of Conservatives, which sits to the left of the party.

    "The government got quite a solid majority," he tells our colleagues on the BBC News channel.

    He adds that, by his own "crude maths", it appears 24 MPs abstained on the vote - "that's far fewer than people expected," Green says.

    "If the government sticks to its guns, it can probably get this legislation through intact."

  5. We reserve right to vote against the bill in new year - Francoispublished at 20:41 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    Mark Francois, the chairman of one of the right-wing factions which believes the Rwanda bill isn't tough enough, says his group reserves the right to vote against the bill at third reading if changes are not made.

    He says 38 [we now know 37] Conservative MPs did not vote for the bill "despite a very hard three-line whip".

    Francois, who leads the ERG group, says the prime minister has said he would "entertain tightening up the bill". Francois says the ERG will table amendments in the new year which they hope will be adopted.

    If that doesn't happen, he says, they "reserve the right to vote against the bill".

  6. Tory civil war will now continue into new year - Cooperpublished at 20:27 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper tells the BBC we have seen "a Tory party civil war erupting" over the Rwanda plan.

    Cooper says the "chaos" is now likely to "continue into the new year as well".

    She warns that the cost of the "failing" Rwanda plan is rising to £400m, and says Labour would spend this money on tackling smuggler gangs and creating a new returns unit.

    "We need both stronger border security and stronger action to fix Tory asylum chaos," she says.

  7. Sunak will be very happy tonight - Therese Coffeypublished at 20:16 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    Former cabinet minister Therese Coffey says Rishi Sunak will be "very happy tonight" after winning the Rwanda bill vote.

    "The issue has become rather totemic", she says, but adds: "We can now get on with that bill. Clearly, the prime minister has said he's in a listening mode, [he] wants to make it work."

    Coffey says "any prime minister would be proud" of a majority of 44, and adds that most people in the UK care about "the money in their pocket and economic growth".

  8. WATCH: The moment government wins Rwanda votepublished at 19:56 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    Media caption,

    Watch: Moment Sunak wins Rwanda vote

    It was a more dramatic moment that many parliamentary votes, simply because there had been several different predicted outcomes.

    In the end, the tellers announced that MPs had voted in support of the bill to revive Rishi Sunak's Rwanda policy by 313 to 269 votes - a majority of 44.

  9. 37 Tories did not vote - but none voted against Sunak's billpublished at 19:53 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    Brian Wheeler

    No Conservative MPs voted against the bill.

    There are 37 Conservative MPs recorded as not taking part in the vote - it's clear that many of these, such as Robert Jenrick, Mark Francois and Suella Braverman, were deliberate abstentions.

    But we are still working out which MPs were absent from Parliament for other reasons.

    Initially, it was reported as 38 Tories not voting but the parliamentary record has now been updated to record Sir Robert Sym as having voted for the government. Previously he was recorded as not having voted.

  10. The PM speakspublished at 19:46 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    This was being billed by some as a confidence issue for Rishi Sunak but he has survived it - and has now taken to X, formerly Twitter.

    He says: "The British people should decide who gets to come to this country – not criminal gangs or foreign courts.

    "That’s what this bill delivers.

    "We will now work to make it law so that we can get flights going to Rwanda and stop the boats."

  11. What happens next?published at 19:38 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    The bill will now go off for more detailed scrutiny in the committee stage - with further votes on it in the New Year.

    Just before the vote, the European Research Group (ERG), which sits on the right of the Tory party, said they would vote down the Rwanda bill in the new year if they did not got the changes they wanted.

    But the government faces a balancing act, with the One Nation Conservatives group suggesting they would not be able to back the legislation if it was further strengthened to the point of breaching the law.

  12. Government wins Rwanda votepublished at 19:29 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023
    Breaking

    The government has won the vote on its flagship Rwanda bill, despite what looks like a large number of abstentions.

    MPs voted in favour of the bill by 313 to 269 - a majority of 44.

    It means Rishi Sunak's government avoids becoming the first since 1986 to be defeated at a bill's second reading stage of legislation.

  13. What do the numbers tell us as MPs vote on Rwanda bill?published at 19:20 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    Sam Francis
    Political reporter

    Just 29 Tory MPs need to vote against, or 57 abstain — or various combinations of both — for the bill to fail.

    But under the surface, the parliamentary calculus is a little more complicated.

    There is no guarantee all non-Conservative MPs will oppose the bill. The three largest opposition parties – Labour, the SNP and the Lib Dems – have all said they will vote against the bill.

    But there are 18 independent MPs, including some likely to support the bill, some expected to oppose it and some who generally do not vote.

    The eight DUP MPs could also play a key role. The group have a track record of siding with Conservative governments in exchange for concessions for their Northern Ireland constituents – like the 2017 deal with Theresa May.

    If Sunak does lose the vote, the bill is dead. He can’t ask parliament to consider the same bill twice in the same session, and with an election expected next year Sunak is out of time.

    Graphic outlining how Conservatives have a working majority of 56Image source, .
  14. Sunak's nightmare before Christmaspublished at 19:17 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    Iain Watson
    Political correspondent

    The nightmare continues for Rishi Sunak.

    I have just been in a media scrum with the European Research Group (ERG).

    They said the bulk of right-wing MPs would abstain, and therefore they assume the bill will pass tonight.

    But they will subsequently vote down the Rwanda bill in the New Year if they don’t get the changes they want to see.

    I asked the ERG’s Mark Francois how they could get the changes they want, as No 10 said they had to work within certain "parameters" (which includes international law).

    He said he wouldn’t pre-empt negotiations which were about to begin with the government.

  15. Amendment vote goes the government's way - but now for the main actionpublished at 19:14 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    That's the first vote of the evening done and it goes the government's way - 269 ayes to 337 noes.

    This means Labour's amendment to the bill has been rejected.

    And now the main matter of the night is being voted on...

  16. First vote is on Labour amendmentpublished at 19:07 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    The first vote, currently taking place, is on a Labour amendment not to give the Rwanda bill a second reading.

    It reads: "That this House, while affirming support for securing the UK’s borders, reforming the broken asylum system and ending dangerous small boat crossings, declines to give a Second Reading to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill because the Bill will not work to tackle people smuggling gangs, end small boat crossings or achieve the core purposes of the Bill, will lead to substantial costs to the UK taxpayer every year whilst applying to less than one per cent of those who claim asylum in the UK, threatens the UK’s compliance with international law, further undermines the potential to establish security and returns agreements with other countries and does not prevent the return of relocated individuals who commit serious crimes in Rwanda back to the UK."

    The government is expected to win this vote and then MPs will be voting on the main motion of the night.

  17. Voting beginspublished at 19:01 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023
    Breaking

    The debate has now ended, and the deputy speaker has called for a vote on Labour's amendment to the bill.

    MPs will now go to the divisional lobbies to vote.

  18. Mark Francois says Tory right will not support Rwanda billpublished at 18:52 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023
    Breaking

    In another major blow to Rishi Sunak, Mark Francois, the chairman of the European Research Group (ERG), just said that his group and four other collectives of right-wing Tory MPs have decided they cannot support the bill.

    He says the bulk of them will abstain from the vote in the next half-hour.

    Francois tells a group of journalists gathered around him in the Commons: "We have decided collectively that we cannot support the bill tonight because of its many omissions."

    He said that while it would be up to to every colleague individually to decide what to do, "collectively we won't be supporting it".

    He explains that - assuming the bill passes - the MPs will aim to table amendments at the committee stage in the new year "which we hope will materially improve the bill".

  19. French government in crisis after migration bill defeatpublished at 18:30 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    The UK isn't the only place currently experiencing a political crisis over migration, with James Cleverly saying earlier in the House of Commons illegal entries are "on the rise elsewhere in Europe".

    Across the English Channel in France, MPs from far right, far left and moderate parties united to defeat a draft law seeking to tighten its migration rules.

    The bill was designed to make it easier for the government to expel migrants who are sentenced to prison sentences of five years or longer, as well as making it more difficult for people to bring family members to France.

    But, in a move seemingly mirroring the divisions within Tory ranks here the the UK, MPs on the left argued its measures were too repressive, while those on the right said they were not tough enough.

    Following the defeat, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin - viewed as a hardliner on immigration issues and a strong proponent of the law - offered to step down. However, French President Emmanuel Macron rejected his resignation.

  20. Is it normal to promise changes to a bill before it has been voted on?published at 18:14 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2023

    Sam Francis
    Political reporter

    As part of his charm offensive with Tory rebels, the prime minister suggested he is open to tweaking the bill.

    Announcing plans to change a bill before it has even been debated in parliament is unusual - but not unprecedented.

    A bill's journey through parliament is normally very structured. After its introduction, MPs debate the bill's main ideas and first vote on a bill at second reading - where we are today.

    Changes to a bill, known as amendments, are normally suggested later at what is known as committee stage - where line-by-line scrutiny of the bill begins.

    But you do not have to reach too far back in history to find examples of the government promising to change a bill at second reading. Last month the government published the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, shorn of a proposed ban on the sale of new leasehold houses. The government pledged to add in this key reform later, using an amendment.