Rwanda rebels threaten to sink bill if Sunak doesn’t meet their demands

Details
East Africa
242
Rishi Sunak is seeking to stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats (Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)© Provided by The i

Conservative rebels who are pushing for a tougher immigration policy will this week open talks with ministers which will decide whether they continue their revolt.

MPs including Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick have pledged to strengthen the Safety of Rwanda Bill which is designed to ensure the Government’s flagship asylum scheme can no longer be blocked by the courts.

 

They have threatened to table amendments to the legislation which would lead to a fresh Commons showdown later this month.

But first the rebels will meet with the Government this week to discuss whether they can reach a compromise, a source told i.

If there is no agreement they will seek to amend the bill when it returns to Parliament – although centrist Conservatives have warned they could vote the legislation down altogether if it goes too far in setting aside human rights laws.

Mr Jenrick told the Sunday Times: “The Prime Minister is saying that he will not allow a foreign court to block removals to Rwanda when the Government’s stated legal position today is that to do so would be a clear breach of international law.

“Why would you bring forward a bill which your own legal advice – which has proven to be wrong and optimistic in the past – is saying has a 50 per cent chance, at best, of getting a single flight off to Rwanda? That’s an act of self-harm. We’re running out of road, and at the end of the road, there’s a precipice.”

Rishi Sunak attempts to deny his doubts on Rwanda plan after leaked No 10 documents. He said he was seeking to write into the law the principle that ministers can ignore injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights, and prevent migrants from appealing against any decision to send them to Rwanda.

When the bill was first debated by the Commons last month, around two dozen rebels refused to vote for it. They said they would reserve the right to vote against at the next stage, which would put Rishi Sunak in danger of defeat.

The Prime Minister has been forced to deny that he had fought with Boris Johnson over the principle of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda as a means of deterring them from crossing the English Channel to reach Britain in the first place.

Leaked documents revealed that when he was Chancellor, he refused to commit the funding requested by the then-Prime Minister and Priti Patel, who was Home Secretary.

Mr Sunak told the BBC on Sunday: “I discussed it with the Prime Minister and ultimately funded the plans and the scheme, and my job now as Prime Minister is to get it up and running and I believe that it’s really important because it’s about deterrence.” 

Pressed on why he had fought other ministers over the scheme, he said: “As Chancellor, my job is to scrutinise and ask tough questions of every single proposal that crosses my desk. I mean that’s my job, or was when I was Chancellor… ultimately this is all taxpayers’ money and just because someone’s asking tough questions doesn’t mean that they don’t believe in the proposal.”  By Hugo Gye, The i