UNELECTED PEERS DELAY RWANDA BILL AGAIN WITH MORE AMENDMENTS

Peers have delayed Rishi Sunak's Rwanda Bill yet again despite MPs voting down previous bids to water down the plans.

The House of Lords snubbed ministerial calls to back down and insisted by 245 votes to 208, majority 37, on a requirement that the east African country cannot be treated as safe until promised protections are in place.

The fresh Government setback mean a continuation of wrangling at Westminster over the proposed law that aims to clear the way to send asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats on a one-way flight to Kigali.

A short time later, the upper chamber inflicted a further defeat, again backing by 247 votes to 195, majority 52, 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 legislation will now be sent back to the Commons for MPs to consider the latest changes by peers.

A government source told MailOnline the impact of delaying passing the Bill until next week will be 'minimal'.

Even if the legislation makes the statute book there is likely to be a delay before the first deportation flights take off, with June seen as probably the earliest.

Rishi Sunak dodged this morning on whether the RAF would be used to transport migrants to the African country, following rumours that the Home Office is struggling to find a private airline.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Migration) Bill is a key part of Mr Sunak's pledge to 'stop the boats'.

The PM previously said he hopes the flights can be begin before the end of spring.

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.

As well as compelling judges to regard the east African country as safe, it would give ministers the power to ignore emergency injunctions.

Peers approved a slew of new changes to the legislation last night, despite the Commons having already rejected a number of amendments.

A successful Labour amendment demanded the Bill has 'due regard' for international and key domestic laws, including human rights and modern slavery legislation.

Peers also later added a requirement that Rwanda cannot be treated as a safe country for migrant deportations until an independent monitoring body has verified protections contained in a new treaty are fully implemented and remain in place.

A further amendment passed by peers was aimed at restoring the jurisdiction of domestic courts in relation to the safety of Rwanda and enable them to intervene.

All of those were knocked out by the Commons in a quickfire scrutiny session this afternoon.

Asked whether it would be appropriate to use RAF aircraft for deporting migrants, Mr Sunak told broadcasters: 'My priority is to stop the boats.

'I said this very clearly when I became Prime Minister and right now we are trying to get the Bill through Parliament in the face of enormous opposition from the Labour Party.'

He added: 'We must stop the boats because it is a matter of fairness.'

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott told Sky News this morning: 'We will be ready for flights to take off in the spring when the legislation passes.'

She added: 'I think there are lots of definitions of spring but we are hoping to get them up and running as quickly as possible.'

An analysis of Home Office data found more than 75,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to Britain since ministers first announced the Rwanda plan two years ago.

No asylum seekers have yet been sent to the east African country after the multi-million pound scheme got bogged down in legal challenges.

2024-04-17T10:20:23Z dg43tfdfdgfd