Downing Street today refused to commit to Rwanda deportation flights taking off this Spring after ‘cynical’ peers delayed crucial legislation again.
The PM’s spokesman declined to stand by the timetable previously set out by Rishi Sunak, merely saying the policy will be implemented ‘as soon as possible’.
No10 pointed the finger squarely at the House of Lords, which refused to back down in the latest stage of Parliamentary wrangling last night.
The comments came as Defence Secretary Grant Shapps gave another strong hint that the RAF will be deployed to run the flights, instead of using a private airline.
The proposed law aims to send some asylum seekers on a one-way trip to Kigali in order to deter people from crossing the Channel in small boats.
The Bill and a treaty with Rwanda are intended to prevent further legal challenges to the stalled asylum scheme after the Supreme Court ruled the plan was unlawful.
No10 pointed the finger squarely at the House of Lords, which refused to back down in the latest stage of Parliamentary wrangling last night
Rishi Sunak has put the Rwanda Bill at the heart of his efforts to ‘stop the boats’. Pictured, migrants crossing the Channel earlier this week
Mr Sunak has committed to the first deportation flights taking off this Spring
As well as compelling judges to regard the east African country as safe, it would give ministers the power to ignore emergency injunctions.
But the House of Lords yesterday snubbed ministerial calls to back down and again insisted on revisions to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill.
Despite MPs overturning previous changes by the upper chamber, peers renewed their demand that Rwanda cannot be treated as a safe country until an independent monitoring body has verified that protections contained in the treaty are implemented.
The provision would also allow the Secretary of State to effectively pull the plug on the scheme if the promised safeguards were not maintained.
In a further blow to the Government, peers again supported an exemption from removal for those who worked with the UK military or Government overseas, such as Afghan interpreters.
The Lords’ insistence on the amendments ensures a fourth round of ‘ping-pong’ over the Bill, where legislation is batted between the two Houses until agreement is reached.
The draft law will be sent back to the Commons, where MPs are set to consider the latest changes on Monday.
Government sources played down the impact, but many now believe flights cannot begin until mid-June at the earliest.
The PM’s spokesman said: ‘Our intention is to get this passed on Monday such that we can then set out the timetable for getting flights off as soon as possible.’
He said the timetable was initially set out in November ‘but obviously the Bill has continued to be delayed’.
‘I’m not going to get ahead of the Bill passing, which obviously we’ve seen again last night has continued to be held up.
‘We’re working at pace to ensure these flights leave as soon as possible. It’s now incumbent on the Lords to pass this Bill such that we can trigger the final planning phases and ultimately stop the boats.’
Home Secretary James Cleverly accused Labour of a ‘politically cynical’ effort to scupper the Rwanda plan.
There are reports that the Ministry of Defence is preparing to repurpose at least one RAF Voyager plane for deportations, with claims that the government has struggled to find a private airline.
Mr Shapps did not deny the suggestion, telling Sky News this morning: ‘We will do whatever we need to do to make sure that we can get these flights off, whether they are charter flights or other kinds of flights.’
He added that which aircraft took asylum seekers to Rwanda was a ‘secondary issue’.