Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Rishi Sunak should welcome lively MPs, not shun them

(Credit: Getty images)

Rishi Sunak has a rebel problem: we already know that. He’s got factions of Tory MPs prepared to vote against the government on a range of issues, and the Prime Minister knows that on each issue, there are different rebels, rather than just one easy-to-identify awkward squad. Even when he is, as Katy explains in the magazine this week, focusing on issues that unite the party rather than reforms that will provoke some rebels such as planning reform, he still has trouble on his hands. 

The current trouble comes in the form of the Online Safety Bill, which has a phalanx of Conservatives prepared to vote against their party whip in order to toughen up the legislation. The amendment by veteran Conservative Bill Cash would make tech bosses criminally liable for their companies’ failure to protect children from harmful online content. It now has more than 40 Tory MPs signed up.

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