Kemi Badenoch privately warned Rishi Sunak his Rwanda Bill did not go far enough, an insider has claimed. The Business and Trade Secretary is understood to have urged the Prime Minister to beef up the legislation by stopping migrants from lodging individual legal appeals against their removals to Kigali.
Ms Badenoch met Mr Sunak’s chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith last month to warn of the consequences of failing to block individual legal challenges.
A source told The Times: “Kemi was aware that the Prime Minister faced a serious rebellion and he had to try and accommodate them, so she went in to see Liam.
“She was trying to avoid the rebel MPs turning against the Government.”
Mr Sunak is under mounting pressure from the Conservative right to strengthen the Rwanda Bill, which returns to the Commons tomorrow.
More than 50 Tory MPs have publicly backed amendments to bolster up the legislation.
Outspoken Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson is said to be considering rebelling although he has not commented publicly on the claims.
The amendments were tabled by Robert Jenrick, who quit as immigration minister over the legislation, and veteran Tory Sir Bill Cash.
They are seeking to disapply international law from the Bill and curtail asylum seekers’ rights to appeal against flights to Kigali.
The amendments are unlikely to pass as they will not get Labour support, but the key test will come at the third reading when rebels may vote against the Bill entirely.
However the Prime Minister will face opposition from centrists in his party if he hardens up the Bill.
The legislation, along with a new treaty with Rwanda, is aimed at getting the flagship policy of deporting asylum seekers to the African nation off the ground.
