A week still is a long time in politics. Just over seven days ago Rishi Sunak dodged a question from BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg about whether he would over-rule judges from the European Court of Human Rights who blocked flights of illegally-arrived migrants to Rwanda.
Asked if he would "ever be willing to ignore a rule 39" order to stop a plane taking off from the UK taking migrants to Rwanda, the Prime Minister repeatedly refused to give a specific answer.
"I won't let a foreign court stop our ability to remove people once we have been through our process in Parliament and courts system," adding: "I won't speculate about the future."
Sunak changed his tune in an interview with me for GB News in a freezing cold Leigh-on-Sea, Essex today. "I would not have put that [Rule 39] clause in the Bill if I was not prepared to use it," he said, adding: "If you're asking me you know, are there circumstances in which I'm prepared to ignore those rules 39s? Then yes, of course there are."
Sunak could lose his Rwanda Bill as he sets out ‘all or nothing’ bid to stop the boats
GB News
The change in tone is unlikely to have been an accident, and it was intended for Conservative MPs 41 miles away in Westminster where Sunak is facing the very real prospect of losing his Rwanda Bill in an ‘all or nothing’ third reading vote on Wednesday evening.
Already more than 60 Tory MPs have backed amendments to toughen the legislation so that there are more guarantees that lawyers cannot stop deportation flights taking off for Rwanda.
Sunak knows he has to offer something, not least because former Home Secretary Suella Braverman told me in a GB News interview on Friday that she could not support the unamended Bill.
The rebels only need the support of another 28 Tories to defeat the Government on Wednesday.
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Rishi Sunak sits down for an exclusive interview with Christopher Hope
GB News
Sunak is in a bind - he knows that if he hardens the Bill he risks losing the support of centre-left Tory MPs in the One Nation caucus, as well as making it unacceptable in international law to Rwanda. But if he does not, the Tory right could inflict an embarrassing defeat on him.
The PM made clear that he is listening. "I'm happy to have a dialogue with anyone who thinks they might have an idea that will improve the effectiveness of the bill whilst making sure that it's still legally compliant and maintains Rwanda's participation in the scheme," he told me.
Members of the so-called "five families" of Tory right-wing MPs meet tonight. The whiff of resignations from the front bench is in the air.
There is a risk he could lose the Bill altogether, throwing his Government into a tailspin, helping to deliver the forecast election wipe-out from today's appalling poll figures from YouGov. The next 48 hours are crucial.
