Rishi Sunak is set to hold an emergency press conference from Downing Street later this morning, with speculation swirling in Westminster around what he is going to say.
The PM will take to the stage following his comprehensive victory in the Commons last night, after Tory rebels caved and backed the Government’s migrant plan.
After weeks of blue-on-blue rows and rebellions, Mr Sunak won the day, with just 11 Conservative MPs voting against Mr Sunak’s Rwanda Bill.
Despite the usual fevered speculation whenever a No. 10 press conference is announced, it appears highly unlikely it will be used to call the long-awaited General Election.
Initial excitement the press conference could be election-related was swiftly extinguished after a new poll in The Times found the Tories have fallen to their lowest level of support since Liz Truss left office, on just 20 percent of the vote and behind Labour by 27 points.
Instead the PM is set to use the speech to celebrate his Commons victory, but more importantly deliver a stark warning to unelected Lords.
Mr Sunak will warn Peers ahead of their debates and votes on the hard-line Rwanda Bill not to block the clear wishes of MPs and the public, and pass the legislation swiftly.
He will issue a strict message, echoing Boris Johnson’s 2019 campaign slogan, to ‘get it done’.
The Bill’s Commons majority of 44 means the Prime Minister has a strong mandate to get the important legislation through the Lords, but that doesn’t mean left-wing peers won’t try frustrating and delaying the Bill.
Objections to the Bill by peers will almost certainly spark a session of Parliamentary ‘ping-pong’, the name given to when legislation is sent back and forth between the Commons and the Lords until they agree on the wording.
The timing will be tight if Mr Sunak hopes to achieve flights to Rwanda by March.
This morning the Politico website reports the Lords are ready for “trench warfare” in order to block Rwanda deportations, with one peer already going on the record to pledge he will vote against the key legislation.
Lord Carlile, a former Lib Dem MP, has revealed: “there will be significant attempts to kill the bill completely”.
He predicts the Lords may go so far as to breach parliamentary convention in their opposition to the Bill, warning that traditions and rules may be “tested”.
“When the chips are down — and we’re talking about international treaty obligations, and the reputation of the British legal and parliamentary system — then the House of Lords can take a much more punctilious view.”
Crossbencher Lord Kerr also told the website that he would like to see the Bill “thrown out” given its incompatibility with the UN’s 1951 Refugee Convention.
Mr Sunak will take to the briefing room in No. 9 Downing Street mid-morning, and will also take questions from the media.
