Senior Conservative MPs have rallied around Rishi Sunak after calls came from a former Tory Cabinet minister for the prime minister to step down.
Sir Simon Clarke warned the party faces a “massacre” at the general election unless there is a change in leadership.
Despite Sir Simon’s warning, several key figures within the party, including Home Secretary James Cleverly, have defended Mr. Sunak and discouraged infighting.
Mr. Cleverly stated, “If we were to do something as foolish as have an internal argument at this stage, all it would do is open the door for Keir Starmer.”
Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski told The Epoch Times, “Simon has let our party down enormously with this highly inappropriate and irresponsible comment.”
Richard Tice, the leader of Reform UK, who are currently polling at third in national voting intention, told The Epoch Times that he saw the infighting as, “rats kicking off in the sack before the sack sinks in quicksand.”
Starmer Seizes Opportunity
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has seized on the unrest, criticizing the Tories for putting party interests over those of the country.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sunak chose to focus Prime Minister’s Questions on Sir Keir’s political record, labeling him “a human weathervane.”
The controversy was fueled by a column in The Telegraph by Sir Simon, who expressed his view that Mr. Sunak is leading the Conservatives toward an electoral defeat.
The Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO), led by key allies of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, also echoed the sentiment of disillusionment with Mr. Sunak’s leadership.
Chairman of the CDO, David Campbell Bannerman, told The Epoch Times that while “Commons votes carry the threat of removing the whip for MPs, a letter of no confidence doesn’t.”
The former MEP added: “The polls can hardly be much worse [for the Tories] so any downside of removing another prime minister, especially one elected by neither members nor any MPs, is minimal. We need to steer clear of the cliff edge.”
However, senior party figures and Downing Street have pushed back against the criticism. The prime minister’s press secretary remarked, “This is one MP,” downplaying the extent of the dissent.
Former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and other ministers have urged unity and focus on tackling key issues like inflation and economic growth.
Sir Simon joins Dame Andrea Jenkyns in openly declaring no-confidence in the prime minister but behind the scenes the mood in the right of the party has been worsening, after Mr. Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda bill suffered a setback in the House of Lords on Monday.
Cameron Fights For Rwanda in Lords
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron, the former Prime Minister, called on his fellow peers to support the Rwanda asylum plan following its initial defeat in the House of Lords.The Lords, in an unprecedented move, voted by a majority of 43 to delay a treaty with Rwanda, crucial for the policy’s legal soundness.
This setback is expected to lead to further debates when the domestic legislation underpinning the deal, which proposes sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda, is discussed in the Lords next week.
Mr. Sunak has cautioned the unelected House against blocking what he terms the “will of the people” during the upcoming debates on the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill.
Lord Cameron said in the upper chamber on Monday: “What the Government will do is, having passed the Bill through the House of Commons, bring the Bill to the House of Lords, and I’ll be urging fellow peers in the House of Lords to vote for that Bill because it’s absolutely essential that we stop the boats and that we fulfill the prime minister’s plan.
“It’s not acceptable to have people traveling from a perfectly safe country—France—to another safe country—Britain—and to be able to stay, and that’s what the Rwanda plan is all about and why I urge the House of Lords to pass this bill.”
Director of PeoplePolling, Matt Goodwin, told The Epoch Times last week that the Rwanda scheme would “just not work.” He said, “Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party have just passed a bill that will not provide an effective deterrent and will only maintain the broken status quo.”
“The Conservative Party now looks set to further alienate the millions of ordinary people who took a punt on them by voting for lower immigration and control of Britain’s borders in 2019.”
