Politics latest: 'Ping-pong' under way as Rwanda bill returns to Lords after MPs rejected amendments (2024)

Over a year ago, Rishi Sunak made five pledges for voters to judge him on.

The prime minister met his promise to halve inflation by the end of 2023.

But with the general election approaching, how is Mr Sunak doing on delivering his other promises?

You can see the progress for yourself below:

Two of Westminster's best-connected journalists, Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Jack Blanchard, guide you through their top predictions for the next seven days in British politics.

With parliament returning after the Easter break, this week Jack and Sam discuss the government's response to Iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack against Israel - and how it will get across its support for Israel’s right to self-defence, while wanting a de-escalation of tensions.

They also discuss where the claims about deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner's tax affairs go from here.

And they look forward to the final stages of the Conservatives' Rwanda Bill, the fallout from the Westminster honeytrap scandal and a vote on anti-smoking laws.

Email with your thoughts and rate how their predictions play out: jackandsam@sky.uk or jackandsam@politico.co.uk

The prime minister could face another rebellion from his party today over his plans to ban young people from ever smoking.

Should the Tobacco and Vapes Bill eventually be passed into law, it would be an offence to sell tobacco products to anyone born after 1 January 2009.

This means children aged 15 or younger today will never legally be able to buy a cigarette.

The plan was one of Rishi Sunak's three key policies he announced at the Tory party conference last year.

However, some more laissez-faire Conservatives have criticised the ban, meaning the prime minister could have to rely on support from the other side of the Commons to get the bill over the line.

You can read more from Sky News below:

On Monday night, MPs voted to reject seven Lords amendments to the Safety of Rwanda Bill - a piece of legislation which hopes to rescue Rishi Sunak's embattled Rwanda scheme.

The bill passed the House of Commons earlier this year, but the House of Lords passed a series of amendments, kicking off a process known as parliamentary "ping-pong".

The amendments rejected by MPs last night were:

• An amendment to make sure the legislation has "due regard" for international law;
• An amendment that states it is only safe in Rwanda while the provision in the treaty with the UK is in place;
• An amendment to check whether Rwanda complies with its treaty obligations;
• An amendment allowing individual appeals based on safety in Rwanda;
• An amendment requiring age assessments for those being deported to be carried out by the local authority;
• An amendment preventing those who say they are victims of modern slavery from being deported;
• An amendment to prevent the deportation of those who have served with or for the UK's armed forces.

So what happens now?

This afternoon, the legislation will return for a third round of debate in the House of Lords.

We don't know exactly what will happen - but there are two paths peers could taken when the Safety of Rwanda Bill arrives back in their chamber.

The Lords could vote in favour of more amendments to the bill - for a third time - which would see the legislation be send back to the Commons on Wednesday for more "ping-pong".

Or, they could decide not to amend the bill.

This would essentially mean the bill would head off for Royal Assent, and become law.

From Rishi Sunak to Keir Starmer, to President Macron and President Biden, Western leaders on Monday appealed to Israel to exercise restraint following Iran's drone and missile attack.

The prime minister, addressing MPs, issued a carefully-worded statement that both reiterated unwavering support for Israel while acknowledging the other regional partners - Jordan and Saudi Arabia - who helped in efforts to intercept and destroy almost all the projectiles fired by Iran and its proxies on Saturday.

With all eyes on Israel, allies are publicly coordinated and the prime minister on Monday was careful not to go beyond clearly agreed lines to take among allies.

He was determined not to throw a match into the tinderbox as Western powers instead embark upon frantic shuttle diplomacy behind the scenes, with the PM due to speak to Netanyahu, and the Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron potentially taking a trip to the region.

Because this is a dangerous moment: As the prime minister's spokesperson said this morning, had the Iranian attack been successful, it's hard to overestimate the fallout for regional instability.

Read Beth's full analysis here:

By Tim Baker, political reporter

MPs have rejected a series of Lords' amendments to the government's Rwanda bill - as a week of parliamentary showdown on the legislation begins.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill is currently in the middle of what is known as ping-pong, where the two houses propose, debate and vote on amendments.

So far, the Lordshas proposed one set of amendments, all of which the Commons defeated.

And now asecond set of Lords' amendmentshave been rejected by MPs - so the bill will return to the Lords on Tuesday for further scrutiny.

You can read more from Sky News below:

Good morning!

Welcome back to the Politics Hub for another Tuesday in Westminster.

Here's what you need to know this morning:

• MPs last night rejected a series of Lords' amendments to the government's Rwanda bill - as a week of parliamentary showdown on the legislation begins;

• The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill is currently in the middle of what is known as ping-pong, where the two houses propose, debate and vote on amendments;

• After last night's defeats, it will return to the Lords for a third round of consideration this afternoon;

• Elsewhere, the prime minister is facing another rebellion from his party today over plans to ban young people from ever smoking;

• Shortly after midday, we expect the second reading of theTobacco and Vapes Bill in the House of Commons;

• Rishi Sunak will also host his first cabinet meeting after the Easter recess today. As ever, we don't know what they will discuss - but we typically get a read-out afterwards;

• And Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is travelling to New York City today, where he will insist the UK economy "is on the up" at theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) spring meetings.

We'll be discussing all this and more with:

• Victims and safeguarding minister Laura Farris at 7.20am;

• Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey at 7.45am;

• Labour's Anneliese Dodds at 8.15am.

Follow along for the very latest political news.

Thank you for joining us on the Politics Hub for a busy day as MPs returned to Westminster after the Easter recess.

Here's what happened:

• Rishi Sunak gave a statement to the Commons after Iran's attack on Israel, saying: "All sides must show restraint";
• But he rebuffed calls from MPs across the House to proscribe Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is responsible for much of the terrorism and instability in the Middle East;
• Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron told Sky News that he urges Israel "not to escalate" in the Middle East, agreeing with US president Joe Biden's assertion that they should "take the win" of having prevented Saturday's attack;
• The Commons rejected seven Lords amendments to the government's flagship Rwanda bill, meaning the parliamentary ping-pong continues;
• That came on the day that a total of 534 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Sunday, the highest number on a single day so far this year;
• The Lib Dems demanded that ex-PM Liz Truss be stripped of the Tory whip over "conspiracy theories";
• In a series of interviews promoting her new book, she refused to rule out standing again for the Tory leadership, saying she has "unfinished business".

Join us again from 6am for the very latest political news.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman has penned an op-ed in which she attempts to dismantle arguments against designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist group.

She says in a Telegraph article that the IRGC is "the world's chief sponsor of terrorism" that is "responsible for plotting terrorist attacks, hostage-taking and indoctrination around the world, including in the UK".

She writes that 70 MPs and peers from all parties are demanding proscription, which she argues would "cut the head off the snake here in the UK and [render] it much more difficult for these terrorist sponsors to operate on our streets, and in our communities".

"I’ve heard the argument that the UK would lose access to Tehran by banning the IRGC, but this is weak.

"What good did this so-called 'access' do to stop or mitigate October 7? What good did it do to deter the drones and missiles fired on Israel this weekend? Or the attacks on people in the UK?"

That argument, Mrs Braverman says, is "Foreign Office-speak for: 'We support the status quo and don’t see the need to change things, thank you very much'."

She goes on: "Equally delusional is the claim that our sanctions regime is sufficient to deter the IRGC. This is naive when we know the IRGC circumvent sanctions."

She says Rishi Sunak's government "risks being left on the wrong side of history if it continues to stall on this important step", adding: "It's time we grew a backbone."

Despite Rishi Sunak's woes and battles with his pesky party and peers, the government still wins important votes in the Commons with hefty majorities of around 70.

In six votes on government moves to throw out Lords amendments to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, the majorities were 65, 71, 70, 70, 74 and 59.

So the bill now goes back to the House of Lords for another bout of ping pong - round 3, where the outcome of votes on further amendments is less predictable.

The word from the Lords while MPs were trooping through the lobbies in the Commons was that peers will vote another three or four times on Tuesday, setting up another round of ping pong on Wednesday.

One Lords insider told Sky News: "Some will fall into line tomorrow, clothes peg on the nose and all that, but if the crossbenchers hold firm it's unlikely to be enough to defeat anything pressed to a vote.

"Round 3 on Wednesday is likely to be different, though, as the crossbenchers might then fade a bit and more Tories might be ready to start voting with the government. We'll see."

We will indeed. Opening the two-hour debate in the Commons, illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson was uncompromising - "The entire passage of the bill should prevail."

"We simply cannot allow amendments that provide for loopholes which would perpetuate the current cycle of delays and late legal challenges to removal."

Veteran Tory MP Sir Bill Cash, a serial rebel on Europe for more than 30 years, said the Lords amendments were "ridiculous" and pleaded: "Let's get the House of Lords to calm down a bit."

Good luck, as they say, with that.

So what happens after the bill, as we expect, finally receives Royal Assent and limps on to the statute book later this week?

The parliamentary battle over the bill will be over. But Mr Sunak's battle to get planes in the air and illegal migrants deported to Rwanda almost certainly won't be.

Cabinet minister Victoria Atkins more or less admitted on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News that the government still doesn't appear to have found an airline to take the migrants to Africa.

In other words, the government may win votes in the Commons with hefty majorities, but many of the details of the Rwanda policy are still unclear and opponents are unlikely to give up their fight to keep the deportation flights grounded.