Lords support is urged
RISHI Sunak has urged peers to “do the right thing” and back his Rwanda legislation as he prepares for a showdown with the House of Lords after winning Commons approval for his illegal migration plan.
The Prime Minister saw his legislation pass its third reading in the
Commons on Wednesday night, after a would-be backbench revolt on his Rwanda Bill largely melted away.
But the victory came only after dozens of backbenchers rebelled and two party deputy chairmen quit to back right-wing amendments over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, in the latest sign of the deep divisions within the party.
He is now facing a major battle with peers in the House of Lords, many of whom have already expressed deep unease about the Rwanda plan.
Ministers have already been warned the flagship policy will face stern opposition from the Lords, with one prominent crossbench peer warning the Bill represents “a step towards totalitarianism”.
Mr Sunak on Thursday insisted his party is “completely united” in support of the policy, as he warned peers against blocking the Bill.
At a press conference in Downing Street, he said: “It’s now time for the Lords to pass this Bill. This is an urgent national priority.
“The treaty with Rwanda is signed and the legislation which deems Rwanda a safe country has been passed unamended in our elected chamber.
“There is now only one question. Will the opposition in the appointed House of Lords try and frustrate the will of the people as expressed by the elected House? Or will they get on board and do the right thing?”
Mr Sunak has made the Rwanda policy – first proposed in 2022 while Boris Johnson was in Number 10 – central to his premiership, forming part of his pledge to stop small boats of migrants from coming to Britain over the English Channel.
Under the plan, migrants who cross the Channel in small boats could be sent to Rwanda rather than being allowed to seek asylum in the UK.
The legislation, along with a recently-signed treaty with Kigali, is aimed at ensuring the scheme is legally watertight after a Supreme Court ruling against it last year.
But backbench right-wingers had urged Mr Sunak to toughen up the Bill to sideline Strasbourg judges and ignore any so-called Rule 39 orders from the European Court of Human Rights that would ground flights for asylum seekers.
Number 10 has instead offered new guidance reminding officials to follow any ministerial decisions that would ignore the injunctions, to the anger of civil service trade unions.