Rishi Sunak deploys Lord Cameron to peel off Tory rebels as PM frantically tries to save his Rwanda plan - but Tory Right's 'Star Chamber' concludes new laws are not fit for purpose

Rishi Sunak has deployed David Cameron to try and peel off Tory rebels as he bids to try and save his Rwanda plan.

The Prime Minister is facing a Conservative revolt over emergency legislation he has drawn up to try and get migrant flights to the African country in the air.

His bid to revive the asylum scheme with Kigali - which is already costing £290million, despite not a single person having been sent to Rwanda - is under threat from various factions in his party.

In a fresh blow to Mr Sunak, the 'Star Chamber' of legal advisers to the Tory Right has concluded the Rwanda legislation is not fit for purpose.

Sir Bill Cash, the veteran Brexiteer who has chaired a legal examination of the new laws, signalled the PM's legislation is not 'sufficiently watertight'.

According to the Sunday Times, Lord Cameron spoke to Sir Bill for 45 minutes on Friday afternoon as part of No10's major lobbying operation to try and avoid defeat when the legislation is voted on in the House of Commons.

The newspaper reported the Foreign Secretary is one of several ministers working to peel off Tory rebels threatening to withhold their support for the emergency laws when the first key vote is held on Tuesday.

Downing Street is also engaging with Tory moderates who are concerned the legislation, designed to overcome a Supreme Court ruling the migration scheme is unlawful, may not comply with Britain's obligations under international law.

In an article in The Sun, two leading MPs on the Tory Right have warned they may not be able to back the PM's plans.

Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates, who lead the New Conservatives group, pushed back at Mr Sunak's message the Tories must 'unite or die'.

They wrote: 'The vital thing is we come together in the right place: where the public is. There's no point uniting around a policy that doesn't work.

'That way we'll just unite AND die. The fundamental question around the small boats crisis is this: who is in charge of our country?

'Is it Parliament, the representatives of the people — or is it lawyers and judges interpreting what they ­imagine to be 'customary international law'?'

The first vote on the Rwanda legislation is set to come in a crunch week for Mr Sunak, who is also due to appear before the Covid inquiry tomorrow.

Labour will whip its MPs to vote against the legislation, meaning a rebellion by just 28 Tories could deliver a humiliating defeat for Mr Sunak's Government.

Sir Keir Starmer's party accused the Tories of 'begging for our votes' to pass the legislation to help revive their £290 million Rwanda 'gimmick'.

Asked on Sky News this morning whether the Government had the votes to pass the new Rwanda legislation, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: 'We will see.

'I know that Sir Bill was consulted during the course of the preparation of the Bill, and the content of the Bill reflects many of the wise things that we said.'

He added: 'We will see what Sir Bill and the Star Chamber say. We take seriously the views of colleagues, particularly eminent colleagues like Sir Bill who have deep and profound legal experience.

'But we believe this Bill is tough and robust, and more than that you can look, you can read down the Bill, compare it to the Supreme Court judgment, and you can see that this Bill will ensure that all of the reasons that were used in the past to prevent people going to Rwanda are dealt with.'

Sir Bill wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that the 'Star Chamber' had been considering whether the wording of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill was 'sufficiently watertight to meet the Government's policy objectives'.

'At present it does not,' he said. 'Our report, I hope, will be helpful to the Government in deciding whether the Bill in its current form is fit for purpose or will require further amendment, even by the Government itself.'

Mr Sunak's efforts to prevent Tory MPs rebelling on the legislation hit another snag when it was revealed that a legal assessment has been given it only a '50% at best' chance of success of getting removal flights off to Rwanda.