Rishi Sunak is battling to keep his grip on power amid a rebellion over his Rwanda migrant bill with some Tories reportedly plotting to put Boris Johnson back in Number 10.
Reports say an ambitious purported plan could also involve installing Nigel Farage in the House of Lords to act as Mr Johnson’s right-hand man in a ‘dream ticket’ to woo voters.
On Tuesday, Rishi risks an embarrassing defeat in a Commons vote on laws he says will allow the UK to send illegal migrants to Rwanda.
Critics in his party say the bill is just not tough enough to deter the thousands who make the perilous Channel crossing in small boats each year.
Robert Jenrick, who resigned last week as immigration minister over the row, accused Sunak on Sunday of making a political choice to devise legislation that did not do the job.
‘The test for this is not, “Can you get one or two symbolic flights off before the next election with a handful of illegal migrants on them?”,’ he said on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
‘The test is, “Can you create a strong deterrent that is sustainable and stops the boats and protects the borders of this country for years to come?” That’s what I want to achieve and I’m afraid this bill is not it.’
Jenrick warned the Conservatives would face the ‘red-hot fury of the public’ if they failed to reduce migration.
Also, some Tories believe they are doomed to lose to Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party unless Sunak becomes the fourth PM in four years to step down.
They have devised an ‘advent calendar of s***’ to further undermine him this month, sources told The Mail On Sunday.
The report says party members Believe Boris Johnson, who resigned after several rows including Partygate, would be the best replacement.
If a Tory MP were to resign from a safe seat, plotters believe, party bosses would be unable to stop the proven campaigner from rejoining the Commons and potentially re-entering Downing Street.
They say bringing Mr Farage on board after his stint on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity could nullify a threat from the right-wing Reform Party that he founded.
One Tory MP said: ‘Reform is going to kill us, so we have to buy Farage off. The plan is we get him into the Lords, give him some brief like we did with David Cameron – maybe even home secretary – then go to the country with the dream team.
‘It may not be enough to win but it would definitely re-energise our base, shake up the debate and give Starmer something to think about.’
The PM Sunak tasked Lord Cameron with preventing defeat over the Rwanda Bill, according to The Sunday Times.
Only 28 Conservatives would need to vote against, it for it to become the first piece of government legislation since 1986 to fail to clear even the first hurdle of its passage through Parliament.
Expert lawyers advising the Tories say the bill is not sufficiently strong.
Although it will declare Rwanda a safe country, migrants could still lodge legal appeals over human rights.
Britain has already paid the Rwandan government £240 million as part of a deal to send migrants there – but nobody has been sent, due to a series of legal challenges.
