A prominent conservative withdrew his name from a key amendment to the Bills Bill, amid a “fierce whipping operation” to secure the controversial Nationality and Borders Bill.
The government has been defeated three more times by the Lords, which means further potential opposition between colleagues and MPs, including on the right to work of asylum seekers.
Interior Minister Priti Patel was among those who personally lobbied conservative colleagues Tuesday night in a series of tough votes in the House of Lords, in which at least three amendments to the bill on nationality and borders will be returned to municipalities.
Philippa Stroud, who was a key figure behind the failed efforts of conservative rebels to force the government to repeal the universal £ 20-a-week credit cut, introduced an amendment that would give asylum seekers the right to work after six months.
But sources in the Lords said Lady Stroud had been pressured – claiming she had been told she could lose the Conservative whip – and that the amendment was eventually made on behalf of Labor Ruth Lister. The amendment was adopted by the Lords by a single vote.
Peirce described a major Tory operation to try to secure the bill before the break, with Lords promising the opportunity to communicate to persuade them to stay for a vote late tonight. Despite the three defeats, colleagues adopted one of the bill’s most controversial measures, the offshore of refugee candidates.
At least 66 Tory MPs and colleagues backed the proposal in a letter to the prime minister last month, calling for a change in the bill to allow asylum seekers to work in six months, not a year.
A senior Tory has called the bill “morally vulnerable and economically illiterate”, but said the government has little appetite for compromise.
Labor is facing a dilemma over whether to continue with the bill’s “ping-pong”, although sources said they still hope to make some concessions before parliament is postponed to Thursday. If the lords return the bill to the municipality, MPs may be forced to sit next week to pass the bill.
A Labor Labor source in the Lords said: “We are clearly hitting a brick wall with the Secretary of State, who seems too focused on passing this legislation and ignores the deliberate advice of colleagues in the House of Representatives on why aspects of this bill are unfeasible.”
Previously, only two lawmakers, Simon Hoare and Tim Lawton, rebelled in the municipality when the amendment was returned to the Lords, but more lawmakers, including former Cabinet Secretary Robert Buckland, are working to try to reach a compromise.
These rules mean that asylum seekers may be granted a work permit if the decision on their application is postponed for more than a year. Each job must be on the Ministry of Interior’s list of professions until their application is approved or rejected.
The lords returned the bill on the municipality’s nationality and borders on Tuesday night as part of a “ping-pong” on the changes, meaning MPs will have another chance to vote on the changes on Wednesday.
The bill suffered a series of 12 defeats in the Lords in the last debate. On Tuesday, colleagues discussed six amendments, including the right to work, new strict conditions for the “offshore” of refugees following Rwanda’s proposal by the government and the removal of provisions criminalizing arrivals in the UK.
Six amendments were presented to colleagues on Tuesday night, with three defeated by the government, including offshore refugee processing in Rwanda. One Tory said there was a limited appetite for revolt on the issue by centrist Tories and cross-benchers, as there was a widespread belief that politics would never happen because of legal challenges or extraordinary costs.
MEPs will discuss two other amendments to the lords, one by Shami Chakrabarti of Labor on protecting the refugee convention and one that will not disqualify refugees who have made short stops in other countries.
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