No Leave to Remain

Rishi Sunak's obsessive focus on his Rwanda scheme is a sign of a Government determined to apply for its own removal

Every successful Governing party is a coalition. Tony Blair’s Labour Government, whatever its problems, was a largely stable coalition of social democrats, trade unionists, socialists and liberals.

What that Government proved is that while in every coalition there is always a dominant partner, they will only endure when all sides feel like they still have at least some stake in the game.

The picture in the Conservative party is now very different.

Over the course of 13 long years Rishi Sunak’s party has gradually allowed itself to become entirely dominated by just one increasingly extreme wing, with disastrous effects for both themselves and the country.

And with polls now suggesting the party faces not just defeat, but wipeout at the next general election, that coalition is nearing the point of total collapse.

Yet like a dying man grabbing for just one more pack of cigarettes, Sunak’s relentless focus on his doomed Rwanda scheme suggests his Government is now more interested in hastening its own end than in living to fight another day.

So is there still any way back for Sunak and his Government, or has the Conservative Party’s Rwandan dreams turned into a true electoral nightmare?