LONDON (Reuters) -British lawmakers Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith resigned as deputy chairmen in the ruling Conservative Party on Tuesday after voting in favour of an amendment to the government’s Rwanda migration plan.
The government comfortably defeated the amendment.
In a joint letter, Anderson and Clarke-Smith said that they wanted to make the legislation work, but did not think that was possible under existing legal frameworks.
“Whilst our main wish is to strengthen the legislation, this means that in order to vote for amendments we will therefore need to offer you our resignations,” the letter said.
Sunak’s party is deeply divided over the correct formulation of the bill, which aims to block asylum seekers bringing further court challenges against their deportations.
Votes on further amendments and the possibility of another vote on the bill overall are due to be held in parliament on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Farouq Suleiman and Alistair Smout; editing by William James)
