WEST Dorset MP Chris Loder voted with the government in the Rwanda bill vote but two Dorset Conservative MPs did not cast a vote.

Richard Drax, MP for South Dorset, and Tobias Ellwood, MP for Bournemouth East, each recorded no vote in the vote in the House of Commons last night, December 12.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill was passed through with a majority of 44, despite some critics of the bill on the right of the party abstaining.

No Tory MPs voted against the bill, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saw off a rebellion, but it will be subject of further votes in the new year.

In total, the bill received 313 ayes and 269 noes.

Other Dorset and New Forest Conservative MPs voted with the government.

Sir Conor Burns, Sir Robert Syms, Sir Christopher Chope, Sir Desmond Swayne, Michael Tomlinson, Simon Hoare and Chris Loder all voted 'aye'.

This morning, the Home Secretary, James Cleverley MP, insisted that the bill would not be 'killed off' by Tory rebels.

Right-wing Tories said they reserve the right to vote against the draft law in the new year, unless amendments are made.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, last night after the vote, Prime Minister Sunak said: "The British people should decide who gets to come to this country not criminal gangs or foreign courts. That's what this Bill delivers.

"We will now work to make it law so that we can get flights going to Rwanda and stop the boats."

The legislation is designed to prevent migrants who arrive via unauthorised routes from legally challenging deportation to Rwanda after the Supreme Court ruled the flagship asylum policy unlawful.

It seeks to revive the stalled plan by enabling Parliament to deem the country safe in order to block claims against being sent to Kigali made on the basis that it is unsafe.

Ministers would be able to disapply the Human Rights Act but it does not go as far as overriding the European Convention on Human Rights, something which Tory hardliners have said is needed for the policy to be enacted.

The Home Office has paid £240 million to Kigali so far, with another payment of £50 million anticipated in 2024/25, but no flights have yet taken off.