The Tory civil war over the Rwanda plan is reigniting today as MPs gear up bids to toughen the legislation.
A series of amendments have been tabled to Rishi Sunak’s flagship new law, with showdowns set for the Commons next week.
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick is among those pushing for tougher provisions to stop deportations being blocked by last-minute injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights.
Tweaks would also tighten the grounds on which illegal migrants can bring individual claims.
However, Mr Sunak is walking a tightrope to get his ‘Stop the Boats’ proposals through Parliament, with centrists warning they will not tolerate any further loosening of human rights rules.
Although the right-wing amendments have almost no chance of passing without support from Labour, they are set to lay bare Conservative splits.
A series of amendments have been tabled to Rishi Sunak’s (pictured) flagship new Rwanda law, with showdowns set for the Commons next week
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick (pictured) is among those pushing for tougher provisions to stop deportations being blocked by last-minute injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights
A file photo of migrants crossing the Channel bound for Dover
Mr Sunak has said he would welcome ‘bright ideas’ on how to improve the Bill, but has previously insisted it strikes the right balance with only an ‘inch’ between his rescue plan and more radical measures that would risk Kigali pulling out of the scheme.
The legislation seeks to enable Parliament to deem Rwanda ‘safe’ generally but makes some allowances for personal claims against being sent to the east African nation.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Mr Jenrick said the government had to be sure the new legislation can ‘end the merry-go-round’ of its policy being frustrated.
‘This is the third piece of legislation in three years, it’s three strikes or you’re out, we’ve got to get this right,’ he said.
‘The two central amendments that we are putting forward are firstly, ending the merry-go-round of individual claims whereby illegal migrants claim every possible defence in order to frustrate their removal to Rwanda.
‘Without that the scheme will fail legally and operationally.
‘And secondly, ending the so called pyjama injunctions from the Strasburg court – the kind of injunctions that frustrated the policy back in the summer of 2022 – whereby a foreign court is able to injuct a flight or individuals on a flight and then make the policy ultimately fail.’
Writing exclusively for today’s Mail, former home secretary Suella Braverman said the Safety of the Rwanda Bill will be useless if Mr Sunak refuses to back changes.
She says the Government was ‘hurtling towards a re-run of the scene of the grounded Rwanda flight in June 2022’, when Strasbourg judges blocked the immigration policy with a late-night injunction.
In the first major flashpoint of the year for the Prime Minister, MPs from the Right of his party tabled a series of changes including stronger powers to ignore Strasbourg and bar challenges by migrants.
However, centrist Conservatives are likely to oppose most amendments brought by their colleagues.
The Rwanda policy, which is designed to see Channel small boat migrants sent to the east African nation to claim asylum there rather than here, was declared unlawful by the Supreme Court in November.
Mr Sunak believes the Bill addresses all the concerns raised by the judges and will finally allow removals flights to take off by spring.
He has warned that additional measures could risk breaching international law and lead to the government of Rwanda pulling out of the deal.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman said the Safety of the Rwanda Bill will be useless if Mr Sunak refuses to back changes
But tough extra measures were backed by 30 Right-wing Conservatives last night, including Mrs Braverman, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and former minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The rebel group insisted it had received advice from leading constitutional lawyers that its proposals would not breach international law.
Writing in the Telegraph, right-wingers Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates said that the amendments were ‘proportionate, consistent with our international obligations, and have respectable legal arguments behind them’.
‘As with the rest of the Bill, and the Rwanda plan in general, they are tough – because they need to be.’
Questioned on amendments aimed at toughening up the Rwanda Bill, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick said the Government is on its third strike for the legislation.