Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has urged Rishi Sunak to accept Tory rebel demands to strengthen his Rwanda Bill, arguing it would help to restore the popularity of the Conservative Party and prevent a general election “wipeout”.
The former Cabinet minister said the Government needed to show that it “listens to and shares the concerns of the British people” on the issue of stopping the boats.
He told GB News: “If the Tory Party followed the rebels, it would begin to restore its popularity by being Conservative. If the Prime Minister gets this Bill right and we see flights taking off before the next election, we could just possibly see a revival of Tory support that could prevent the predicted election wipeout.
“It would show a government that listens to and shares the concerns of the British people. Particularly on this issue, because I do feel that the politicians are so out of touch with the British electorate.”
He made the comments after Mr Sunak last night suffered the biggest Tory rebellion of his premiership as dozens of Conservative MPs backed proposed changes to the Bill.
The amendments were ultimately defeated but the scale of the Tory revolt would be more than enough to sink the legislation and overturn the Government’s working majority if it were repeated at the Bill’s final Commons hurdle expected tonight.
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