What to look out for in Parliament next week?
The UK’s MPs have just enjoyed two-and-a-half weeks of recess over Easter while Parliament broke up for spring break.
It won’t all have been scoffing Easter eggs, though. With the local elections approaching and the prospect of a Conservative general election defeat looming, our representatives will have been kept busy with doorstep canvassing and possibly a bit of job hunting of their own.
However, it’s back to business from Monday as the House of Commons resumes its legislative work.
We’ve picked out the highlights to watch out for over the next week.
Rwanda Bill ‘ping pong’ resumes
With MPs returning to Parliament from their constituencies, one of the first things they’ll be battling with is the Safety of Rwanda Bill as they continue deliberating the House of Lords amendments.
The proposed, controversial new law – which would see those who arrive in the UK irregularly be deported to Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed – has been a major theme of Rishi Sunak’s premiership, even sparking Lee Anderson’s defection to Reform UK.
But the bill, which has already passed in the House of Commons, has been faced with a number of changes from peers, which MPs now have to decide whether to accept. This could prove chewy, as rightwing Tory MPs are likely to oppose any perceived watering down of its measures, while centrist opponents are eager to preserve human rights protections.
The government also opted to delay the second week of this back-and-forth, known as ‘ping pong’, until after the Easter recess, meaning mid-April was the earliest it could become law.
Debate over the Tobacco Bill
Coming up on Tuesday, we’ll see MPs in Parliament debating the Tobacco and Vapes Bill – which is set to prevent children turning 15 this year or younger from ever legally being sold tobacco.
This segment of the process – called second reading – is the first chance for the new law to be debated in the Commons in detail.
Sunak is passionate about the new smoking legislation, arguing it will “build a better future for our children” and “save thousands of lives and billions of pounds for our NHS”.
But we could see opposition from Tory MPs on the right of the party who might argue it risks infringing people’s right to free choice – or even represents state overreach into our lives.
Prime Minister’s Questions
As ever, the highlight of the political week tends to land on a Wednesday, when Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer face off across the despatch box at PMQs.
The half-hour exchange is often revealing as to what topic is dominating the cut-and-thrust of Westminster, and can expose weaknesses in either leader, their party or their message.
Ahead of the local elections, some areas we could see Starmer hone in on are: the economy and cost of living; and internal Tory rivalries, including reports the Sunak’s opponents are hoping to replace him with a so-called ‘unity cabinet’ if the Conservatives do badly on May 2.
Sunak, for his part, could take Starmer to task over deputy leader Angela Rayner and the tax she did or didn’t pay after selling her council house, or seek to expose Labour’s divisions over Blairite health secretary Wes Streeting’s plans for private healthcare within the NHS.