UK PM Sunak warns Rwanda migration plan will collapse without party unity

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a press conference in the Downing Street Briefing Room, as he gives an update on the plan to "stop the boats" and illegal migration in London, Britain December 7, 2023. James Manning/Pool via REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters) -A defiant British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appealed to his Conservative Party on Thursday to unite behind his plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, warning colleagues that if he toughened it any further the whole scheme could collapse.

Sunak is facing the biggest challenge to his year-long tenure as he tries to stop lawmakers on the Conservative Party's right wing from rebelling over their demand that Britain should quit international treaties to set its own migration policy.