A senior Tory MP has been secretly recorded saying that Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda Bill is going to be ‘ripped to pieces’ – and claimed that voters are not really interested in efforts to tackle immigration.
The remarks by Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party Board and Cities of London MP Nickie Aiken – a member of the One Nation faction that objects to Mr Sunak’s plans to legislate to circumvent human rights laws – came as the Prime Minister told The Mail on Sunday that he ‘won’t let a foreign court stop us from getting flights off’.
In an exclusive interview ahead of a Commons showdown this week over his Safety of Rwanda Bill, Mr Sunak said that he was confident it will work and the key is to get it up and running as soon as possible.
Mr Sunak is facing opposition from more than 50 Tory MPs on the Right of the party who want to toughen the Bill with a series of amendments designed to close more legal loopholes, but also from Ms Aiken’s One Nation wing who think it already goes too far.
Speaking at a private fundraising event in Wimbledon on the eve of the Rwanda Bill’s second reading in December, Ms Aiken said the Tory Party needed to ‘move away’ from talking about immigration.
MP Nickie Aiken – a member of the One Nation faction that objects to Mr Sunak’s plans to legislate to circumvent human rights laws – has said the Rwanda plan is going to be ‘ripped to pieces’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that he was confident his Rwanda plan will work and the key is to get it up and running as soon as possible
She said: ‘Honestly, when people keep talking about immigration, I personally think we need to move away from immigration.
‘It’s about the cost of living. It’s about the economy. It’s about making sure people have got jobs because when people have got good jobs, highly skilled jobs, and we’ve got the education and the degrees or the apprenticeships or whatever it is, that’s what people want.’
Ms Aiken, who started by thanking the party supporters for ‘sticking with us’ because, in reference to splits over issues such as Rwanda, ‘it can’t have been easy at the moment because my colleagues in the parliamentary party don’t make it that easy’, went on to say that ‘for too long’ the party had been ‘putting immigration all in one big pot’.
She said: ‘It’s not one big pot, there is illegal immigration, there are refugees, and then there is what we need from immigration for our economy. We’ve got to keep those separate and we’ve got to ensure we have policies for all three.
‘And that’s why I think at the moment, with the Rwanda Bill, it is important to get it through second reading, then David [Hunt, Tory peer] and his House can rip it to pieces probably and bring it back to us for third reading.’
The comments highlight the almost impossible juggling act Mr Sunak is trying to perform to keep both wings of his party happy.
In his MoS interview, Mr Sunak said that the Bill would allow migrants to be stopped from using the European Court of Human Rights ‘Rule 39’ to injunct attempted deportations.
The Rwanda Bill would allow migrants to be stopped from using the European Court of Human Rights ‘Rule 39’ to injunct attempted deportations. Pictured: Migrants arrive in Dover on Saturday
He said: ‘I won’t let a foreign court stop us from getting flights off and from getting this deterrent up and running.
‘There shouldn’t be a reason for Strasbourg to intervene, given the checks and balances that exist in our system. If you are asking me if there are circumstances in which I can imagine ignoring Rule 39 from Strasbourg then the answer is clearly yes, there are.’
He added: ‘You can look at the comments from eminent lawyers, all of whom have come out and said that they believe this is the toughest form of law that has ever been brought to Parliament in this area.
‘It closes off all the avenues that people have used to stop it in the past. People claiming asylum – this Bill blocks it.
‘People claiming modern slavery – this Bill blocks it. People making spurious human rights claims – this Bill disapplies those bits. People saying Rwanda isn’t safe – this Bill deals with that.’
Stressing that he was ‘determined to stick it out’, despite the opposition from his party, Mr Sunak said: ‘I’m confident it will work and the key is just to get it up and running as quickly as possible.
‘Anyone who wants to tackle this problem should share that ambition and get behind it.
‘We’ve made progress in the first year that I’ve been Prime Minister… and I want to finish the job.’
Last night, Ms Aiken issued a statement saying: ‘It is imperative we stop the boats and illegal immigration and I do think the Lords will amend and attempt to change the Bill. I voted at second reading and plan to vote for the Bill as it stands at third reading.’
No 10 is braced for the release on Monday of a detailed constituency-by-constituency poll that is expected to paint a bleak picture of the party’s prospects, and in particular on the failure of the Tories to make headway on immigration.
A source said: ‘This will allow MPs to look up their individual seats and see whether they are going to keep their jobs after the Election. It is not going to be pretty’.