Peers will renew their assault on the Rwanda Bill today as ministers warn failing to tackle the Channel boats crisis could fuel the far-Right.
A slew of amendments have been tabled to the marquee legislation as it returns to the House of Lords this afternoon.
The government is braced for defeats, with proposed changes this week including delaying deportations until more safeguards are in place about treatment of migrants in the African country.
The Archbishop of Canterbury and former judge Baroness Hale of Richmond are backing efforts to prevent ministers ignoring the European Court of Human Rights.
Although the amendments are unlikely to block the legislation altogether, with the House of Commons having the final say, many peers are determined to slow progress of the Bill.
Rishi Sunak has said he wants the first flights to leave for Rwanda this Spring, but Tories fear the policy will not be up and running before the election, expected this Autumn.
A slew of amendments have been tabled to the marquee legislation as it returns to the House of Lords (pictured) this afternoon
The Archbishop of Canterbury and former judge Baroness Hale of Richmond are backing efforts to prevent ministers ignoring the European Court of Human Rights
Home Secretary James Cleverly (pictured with Rishi Sunak last month) said he was ‘absolutely determined’ to tackle illegal immigration, pointing to his experience in the London assembly more than a decade ago
Home Secretary James Cleverly said he was ‘absolutely determined’ to tackle illegal immigration, pointing to his experience in the London assembly more than a decade ago.
‘It was Labour’s failure in government in the early to mid-2000s leading up to that 2008 election which I think contributed to the electoral result with a member of the BNP getting voted on to the London Assembly. Labour dropped the ball. I have no intention of doing that,’ he told The Times.
Mr Cleverly said: ‘At election time I will be very, very comfortable standing with a record reducing small boats arrivals.’
Mr Sunak insisted his Rwanda deportation scheme is a ‘worthwhile investment’ last week despite the public spending watchdog cautioning that costs could soar to half a billion pounds.
In a revelation branded a ‘national scandal’ by Labour, the National Audit Office (NAO) said the plan could cost taxpayers nearly £2 million for each of the first 300 asylum seekers sent to the east African nation.
The Home Office had so far refused to say how much more money, on top of the £290million already confirmed, the UK has agreed to pay Kigali under the stalled plan but a NAO report uncovered millions more in spending including £11,000 for each migrant’s plane ticket.
Speaking during a visit to Scotland, Mr Sunak told reporters: ‘The current situation is unsustainable and unfair.
‘Taxpayers are already forking out millions of pounds a day to house illegal migrants in hotels across the country, that’s not right. That’s why I made stopping the boats one of my priorities.
‘I’m pleased that we’ve made progress, last year the numbers were down by a third.’
A group in a small boat picked up in the Channel this morning