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>> ayes to the right, 333. noes to the left, 269. >> majority of 44, more than i expected. i'm chuffed that the prime minister got it through. >> we are pleased to have passed the strongest ever piece of immigration legislation. christian: busy program tonight. we will bring you all the reaction to the dramatic vote in the comments this evening. rishi sunak's government avoiding defeat on the second reading of the rwanda bill. our deputy political editor vicki young is in the lobby with the reaction tonight. also, an important moment coming up in new york. the un's general assembly will vote on a nine binding resolution that calls for cease-fire in gaza.

and we are in overtime in dubai. no agreed text outcome 28. they are working into the night to find some language that suits all parties. but nothing as yet. we will take you there if and when we hear something. good evening. we are going to take you to westminster very shortly, but before we do that, let's cross to new york, where the u.n. vote is expected imminently. these are live pictures from the general assembly. this was an emergency session brought by the arab countries after the united states vetoed a resolution on a cease-fire within the security council last week. tonight 193 countries voting on a similar text. it is a nonbinding resolution, so it does not carry any legal weight. but the result, which we expect to be in favor for the

resolution, will add to the pressure mounting on the israeli government. we will keep watching that and we will take you to new york when we get about in the assembly. just when we get a vote in the assembly. we will focus on events in westminster. the british government has seen off at least for the moment rebellion that was building over its rwanda legislation, the new bill that is supposed to counter any legal challenge to deporting asylum-seekers to rwanda. here is the moment the speaker announced the result. >> ayes to the right, 313. noes to the left, 269. ayes have it unlocked. christian: 313-269, better than expected but plenty of danger ahead. those on the right of the party says the legislation does not do enough to stop those crossing the channel or the legal challenges to removing people,

opted to abstain rather than vote against it. conservative mp mark françois says they are in favor of the bill invisible but not what it contains. >> we have decided collectively that we cannot support the bill tonight because of its many omissions. therefore, while it is down to every individual colleague ultimately to decide what to d, collectively we will not be supporting it. christian: let's speak to our deputy political editor vicki young. good to see you, vicki. in my view worth explaining to viewers joining us what the implications of tonight's vote and the dangers for rishi sunak. vicki: the dangers were huge because he has put so much effort, money, political capital into this very central piece of

policy. the idea that that could have been voted down would undermine his authority. what happened is he got through with the majority of before, the threat is still there from some of those mps. they want to see changes further down the line, and that jeopardy does exist and that is in the house of commons inside. it has to get to the house of lords. a lot of unhappiness on the tory side, but no doubt government will be delighted they went through with a relatively healthy majority. what does labor have to say about this? i'm joined by the shadow home secretary. you were able to stand back and watch the tories fighting with each other, i suppose. but at some point if you get your white it will be you dealing with immigration. what is labor's approach going to be to this? >> we need stronger border security and stronger action to fix the tories' a silent chaos that has gotten worse the last

few years. we have seen the last few days the tory party civil war erupted with different groups taking lumps out of each other, not chaos continuing. it looks -- and that chaos continuing and it looks like it is going to continue into the new year as well. we have learned that the costs of this failing mean they are going upwards to 400 million, not even 300 million, without a single asylum-seekers being sent. we think the money should be going into tackling the criminal smuggler gangs undermining our border security and putting lives at risk so that we stop dangerou crossings and have a new returns unit to reverse the 50% drop in returns from people who don't have a right to be here. vicki: government minister say they are already doing all of these things, they have a returns agreement with albania and that has brought down the number of people coming here from that country. and that you are offering nothing new and that is why they

have been trying to come up with something different, and they are not alone. there are other countries in europe who see this as a major problem, and this could be the answer for them, too. >> we have seen this problem grow over the last five years. the tories have allowed criminal gangs to take hold along the channel because they didn't do the early work with france to stop the criminal gangs. and they preside over this collapse in home-office decision-making. that has led to the backlog soaring, 56,000 people in asylum hotels. we have got to have action to tackle this and that is why we are calling for stronger action on border security, also on returns and clearing the backlog. we support the albania agreement. that is the right thing to do. and also the work on the french coast. but we have to go much further. the government is not doing the real basics. convictions of people smugglers have dropped by one third. they cannot tell us they're going after criminal gangs because those convictions have

plummeted. that is why laborers setup a new cross-border police unit to work with police forces across europe to stop the supply chains, to stop those boatsaking into the french coast in the first place. that is the proper crackdown we need to do and get a new security agreement in place so we are cooperating and sharing proper information so you can move fast against those gangs. vicki: ministers say they do have these agreements with countries and they are cooperating, and they would say the idea of setting up a new unit is not going to be enough to solve this issue. are you concerned that some voters might think you don't have the answers to this? >> we will have the additional police officers to be part of this unit. this is about having the police able to do that work, cap the security agreements in place and also to set up a new returns unit. the returns of those who don't have any right to be here, returns of failed asylum cases,

have dropped about 50% of labor government. that is a complete dereliction of duty in terms of making sure that the asylum system is being enforced, making sure that it is fair and effective, and instead that isn't happening. we have these huge long delays, collapse in decision-making, soaring backlog to record highs. vicki: even if the rwanda agreement did get off the ground literally, seeming to be having a deterrent effect, you would repeal it? >> so, the permanent secretary said there iso idence of a deterrent effect, and the reason for that is even if this scheme does start to work in terms of being able to send people, it is only likely to cover about 1% or less of the people who are currently in hotels, people who arrive in the u.k. in the last year, and some figures suggest it might be closer to .1%.

we are talking about a tiny number of people being covered by a scheme that is currently costing 400 million pounds of taxpayer money, a scheme that is assented more home secretary than asylum-seekers to rwanda. this is the third piece of tory legislation claiming to do one of these things, and each time they make all of these promises and set up a new law make all these grand claims, but it is about gimmicks rather than getting a grip. there are basic things that you have to do to get a grip, and time and again they are too busy fighting amongst themselves to get the basics sorted out. we are to be able to have a cross-party agreement about going after the gangs and clearing the backlog and getting returns in place and proper enforcement in place. but they are not capable of doing that because they are too busy taking lumps out of each other because they are more interested in their own civil war than they are in actually tackling the problems and doing a fair deal for the country. vicki: yvette cooper, thank you

very much indeed, the views from the shadow home secretary. the conservatives would argue tonight they have managed to speak with one voice on this, but it is not necessarily the case it will stay the same the next few months. christian: no, long road ahead for the prime minister. let's bring in the host of "political fix" podcast to see fisher. as vicki said, they spoke with one voice today, but there has been a lot of arm-twisting the background. at breakfast at 10 downing street, graham stuart, the climate minister supposed to be in dubai, was flown home to vote, it was so tight. >> well, that's right. we have seen the day of high drama in westminster that is frankly laid bare divisions in the conservative party that mean that although rishi sunak has avoided a rebellion, the threat of a defeat at this early stage of the bl, he still faces

trouble in the new year when this comes back for the third reading. you mentioned how close the government thought it would come to the wire, the fact that they canceled approvals for mp's to be away from the comments, amenable few mps -- a minimal few mps abroad, not only graham stuart, but mps on the foreign affairs committee, cutting short a trip to qatar, and beyond that you had mps particularly on the right of the party accusing the government of using dark tactics and threatening consequences to those thinking of rebellion against this bill. those close to the whip's office tonight anyone was threatened, but you have us -- denied anyone was threatened, but you have this sense of turmoil that paints a negative picture for the public. and indeed, i've spoken to many

mps today despairing that what they see is irreconcilable differences over this issue on immigration. they cannot see how rishi sunak can move forward on this. christian: it felt like the old brexit debate, didn't it. it has those sorts of implications for the prime minister. a lot of it comes down to the language used at the breakfast meeting this morning. some have interpreted this word "tightening the bill" to mean he is preparing to move. others say there wouldn't be much wiggle room at all. where do you think the government is tonight in terms of the amendments that might come at the third reading? lucy: well, i think you are absolutely right, there is a lot of interpretive work being done. i spoke to some tory mps who are quite -- they are very doubtful that sunak is going to bring forth amendments. he didn't use the word

"amendment" during his breakfast this morning. and at the emergency press conference thursday morning, he said the bill was as far as he was willing to go in terms of pushing the envelope regarding the u.k.'s commitments to its international obligations. one tory mp put it today, which version of sunak was telling the truth, the version last week who said this is as far as the legislation would go, or the sunak this morning who at breakfast and suggested he was open to changes and tightening it? of course you have had one nation of conservatives who have had word of tightening made by the prime minister this morning who are warning sunak from their perspective that they would not accept that, they would not proceed with supporting the bill at the third reading if he did indeed seek to tighten it in the way that has been hinted at. christian: let's get reaction to what you have been saying, because mark françois is with vicki in the lobby. vicki: that's right, conservative mp who is one of

those who was unhappy, once changes made to this bill further down the line. the question is to you, what happens next? >> well, what happened tonight is the government won the vote on the second reading by 44 votes, but at the same time 38 conservative mps on a very hard three-line whip abstained. they didn't vote for the bill. did after a meeting have the collective decision that the prime minister has said that he would entertain tightening up the bill. we are taking him at his word. we will table amendments to do precisely that. we hope they will be adopted and implemented. if they are not, we reserve the right to vote against the bill at third reading. in one minute, that's a summary. vicki: just to tell viewers, what is it you want to see tightened up? >> our objection was that we don't believe as it's currently

drafted the bill is firm enough to ensure that flights will take off to rwanda. we believe it has got some holes in it, and those are the holes we would want in essence to seek to plug. remember, there is a number of mps who voted with the government because they were told in private that there would be amendments later on. it wasn't just the 38 that abstained. there's a lot of people who voted for the bill tonight taking the contract. that number 38 is a lot bigger if those promises are encamped. -- aren't kept. vicki: rishi sunak said he would tighten it up. he didn't talk about amendments of such. >> how is he going to tighten it? vicki: language? >> no, we are talking about genuine amendments. they will be tabled in in january. let me put it another way. we had a meeting in the wilson room.

harold wilson famously said a week is a long time in politics. well, a month is a very long time indeed by that standard. everyone needs a break over christmas, including the media. we will come back in january, table those amendments, and take it from there. vicki: one more question -- the problem is if you table those amendments, there are more mps in your party on the other side of the argument who won't go along with it. >> well, let's just take the process one stage at the time. a bill in the house of commons has multiple votes, not just tonight. vicki: mark françois, thank you very much indeed. that is the plan for those who want to see some changes. there is a big question mark over the numbers. he is making the point -- he is right that there are some people who voted for the bill who are unhappy with it, but they want to carry on and try to change it. the problem rishi sunak has is he has a whole chunk of other mps who don't wanted to go any further in terms of effectively suspending some of those human

rights to stop people appealing when they are threatened with deportation to rwanda. christian: that would be interesting. we will come back to you if you managed to snare one much more reaction to come. you are watching bbc news. let's pause and take a quick look at some of the other stores making headlines today. police and whales have named three teenagers who died following a collision between a bus and a car and call delhi on monday evening, jesse owen and morgan smith aged 18, callum griffiths was 19. two other young men remain in hospital with life-threatening injuries. all five are understood to be coming back from a funeral. schools in england can asked to further inspections until the new year following the outcome of an inquest into the death of a teacher who took 11 january after her school was -- who took her life in january after her school was downgraded due to

concerns. stonehenge may be delisted as a world heritage site if one's for a road project featuring a tunnel go ahead. campaigners are making a final bid in court to stop plans which would involve improving the road which currently runs past the site. you i live with bbc news. we are following reaction to the vote in the commons tonight which the british government has won. only on the second reading, though. let's speak to the former conservative minister, lovely to get your reaction tonight. you heard mark françois just now on what they have planned over the christmas break, the amenents they will be drawing up which they intend to put forward at the third reading. maybe you could give us a view of what the other side of the party would be thinking at the moment, the one nation tories. >> i think it is very much to be

seen as an argument deferred rather than an argument won by the government. it seemed to me that all sites have decided to defer the big row in a sense until the new year. it is hard to see how it gets resolved because the one nation moderate conservatives were assured there won't be amendments to this bill. that is why they said they would actually back it. at the same time, as we heard from mark françois, they are expecting amendments to be made to it, and those are irreconcilable differences. and i think it really does remain to be seen how number 10 will navigate its way through this. i think as theresa may found during the brexit votes, it is extremely hard to bridge the gap between these different sides. and got harder overtime, not easier. christian: do you think the prime minister has expended too much political capital on this?

justine: i think he has got through what seemed to be an extremely challenging moment. i think what really reminded me of the brexit debates was it is very difficult if you are a number 10 in the whipping operation that is giving one set of messages to one group of mps to get them to vote for you and then a different set of messages to different mps to get them to vote for you. in the end, you have to find a real route through. what i don't see tonight is what that real route through is going to be for rishi sunak and the government. and i think behind this as a public doesn't just see the divided conservative party, sees a conservative party that comes across as fragmented. these myriad of different groupings of mps seemingly taking different positions, and it is an election year next year, christian, and it is harder to win elections when you are divided and harder to win when you are fragmented. christian: if you could just

wait a few minutes because i think vicki young has damien green in the lobby. stay there if you would. vicki: yep, we have damien green with us, who has a different point of view to mark françois, who we were just hearing from, the so-called one nation group of conservatives. some of them already think this bill goes too far in some cases. let's speak to damien about all of ts. your grouping has broadly said it is just about the right side of staying within international law, but you don't want to go any further. >> that is exactly right. we've said all along that it is within an inch of having us all opposing it. but actually it is quite skillfully drafted and it doesn't things allowing a few people to make appeal -- it does things allowing a few people to make appeals, which is very important. we buy a large voted in favor of

the government today, and we want to continue doing so. the most important thing that happened today is the government got quite a solid majority, 44. it looks to me during crude maths that 24 people chose to abstain on the final vote on the government's motion, far fewer than people expected. if the government six to its guns, it can get this legislation through contact. vicki: the tightening up some of your colleagues want is effectively to stop people appealing against deportation to rwanda. can you explain why you think that should still be a right, even though they say it could mean that a flight never takes off? >> what the legislation does if you read it is restricted that right to very compelling evidence. if somebody, for instance, discovers they have cancer and you are going to send them somewhere where they can't get proper treatment, that would be monstrous.

britain wouldn't do that. if somebody had heart problems and they might die on flight, you wouldn't put them on a plane . you have got to have some kind of outlet for people to make those kind of appeals, because it would be unconscionable to do that. vicki: are you satisfied that the government is not willing, prepared to in any way leave european conventional human rights? >> yeah, i think that has been clear from the prime minister down -- vicki: that is what some of your colleagues have wanted to see. >> and that is a separate issue. the supreme cou may declare it is not just the european convention that would be affected if the government went too far, it would be the refugee convention, it would be the torture convention. i don't think any of my colleagues want to send somebody back to be tortured anywhere. there is a whole raft of international obligations we need to stick to. those who want to pull out from the echr want to do so for other reasons that are not directly related to this.

and what we should concentrate on is having an effective legislation that allows us to stop the votes. rwanda acts as a deterrent to that. that is what we need to do, and we need to do that as soon as possible. vicki: partly what this bill does is declare that rwanda is a safe country. the supreme court didn't seem to think so. do you agree -- are you happy and content? > what the government has done particularly with the treaty with rwanda's make clear that the big objection the supreme court had, fair enough, was to say they thought that if you sent someone to rwanda, there was a risk of one of the jargon words we have learned, being sent back to the place you were escaping from in the first place. the rwandam government and the british government has signed a treaty looting that -- excluding that. there are other things about the rwandan asylum system which britain will help with and they

will have appeals there. i think it is much more satisfactory than it was. vicki: thank you very much indeed. damian green giving a different perspective, and these arguments will continue fothe foreseeable future. christian: thank you very much for that, interesting to hear the thoughts of damian green. justine is still with us and we will get thoughts from her i after a short break, and the legal aspect and what we might see when it comes to the house of lords, what sort of amendments might be put forth, and how the lawyers might see some of that off. plenty more to come. you are watching bbc news. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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