Rishi Sunak is calling on the House of Lords to quickly approve his controversial Rwanda deportation bill, asserting that it reflects the “will of the people” and emphasizing that the Conservative party is unified on the matter despite recent rebellions.
Following the bill’s passage in the Commons, the prime minister held a hastily arranged press conference at Downing Street, urging the Lords to follow suit. The legislation unilaterally designates Rwanda as a safe country for deporting asylum seekers.
“The treaty with Rwanda has been signed, and the legislation declaring Rwanda a safe country has been passed unamended in our elected chamber,” Sunak stated in his opening remarks.
“The only question now is: will the opposition in the appointed House of Lords attempt to thwart the will of the people as expressed by the elected house? Or will they align themselves and do what’s right? It’s as simple as that. We have a plan, and the plan is working.”
Tories on edge of precipice as Sunak grapples with Rwanda bill rebellionRead more
While the Lords are expected to pass the bill, it is likely to face significant opposition and delay, and could be returned to the Commons with amendments, given the scale of concerns about the plans and whether they breach international law.
This could wreak havoc with Sunak’s pledge to have the first planes leave for Rwanda in the spring, which could further enrage Tory MPs on the right of the party.
While just 11 Conservatives voted against the third reading on Wednesday evening, more than 60 rebelled over amendments during two days of debate, showing the scale of unrest among many backbenchers, and three frontbenchers resigned. After the vote, reports claimed several MPs had submitted letters of no confidence in Sunak.
But asked how he could implement a plan while his party was “taking lumps out of each other”, Sunak dismissed the idea of any division.
“The Conservative party last night demonstrated that they’re completely united and wanting to stop the boats. And this bill passed with an overwhelming majority in parliament,” he said.
In a hugely on-message performance, in which he used the word “plan” 47 times in 25 minutes, Sunak reiterated his willingness to discount the views of the European court of human rights in pressing ahead with deportations, as set out in the bill.
“I’ve been crystal clear repeatedly that I won’t let a foreign court stop us from getting flights off and getting this determine the bills specifically contains power and makes it clear that ministers are the ones that make these decisions,” he said.
“Parliament has supported that. There’s also the bill makes expressly clear that the domestic courts should respect that decision. And very simply, we would not have that clause, I would not have put that clause in the bill if I was not prepared to use it.”
2024-01-18 06:22:31
Article from www.theguardian.com