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Sunak: Nothing will stand in our way of getting Rwanda flights off the ground

Having completed its parliamentary passage, the Rwanda Bill now goes for royal assent.

Nick Lester
Tuesday 23 April 2024 01:40 EDT
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Benjamin Cremel/PA)
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Benjamin Cremel/PA) (PA Wire)

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The Prime Minister has said ā€œnothing will stand in our wayā€ of getting flights off the ground after the Governmentā€™s Rwanda deportation plan passed through Parliament.

The House of Lords had been engaged in an extended tussle over the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill on Monday, sending it back to the Commons five times in a bid to secure changes.

The unelected chamber ended the deadlock after MPs rejected a requirement that Rwanda could not be treated as safe until the secretary of state, having consulted an independent monitoring body, made a statement to Parliament to that effect.

The Government said the Lords amendment was ā€œalmost identicalā€ to the previous ones overturned by MPs.

In a statement on Tuesday, Rishi Sunak said: ā€œThe passing of this landmark legislation is not just a step forward but a fundamental change in the global equation on migration.

ā€œWe introduced the Rwanda Bill to deter vulnerable migrants from making perilous crossings and break the business model of the criminal gangs who exploit them.

ā€œThe passing of this legislation will allow us to do that and make it very clear that if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay.

ā€œOur focus is to now get flights off the ground, and I am clear that nothing will stand in our way of doing that and saving lives.ā€

In a video posted to social media, Home Secretary James Cleverly said the Bill ā€œwill become law within daysā€.

He said: ā€œThe Act will prevent people from abusing the law by using false human rights claims to block removals.

ā€œAnd it makes clear that the UK Parliament is sovereign, giving Government the power to reject interim blocking measures imposed by European courts.

ā€œI promised to do what was necessary to clear the path for the first flight.

ā€œThatā€™s what we have done.

ā€œNow weā€™re working day in and day out to get flights off the ground.ā€

Earlier in the upper House, the opposition did not press its demand for the Bill to include an exemption from removal for Afghan nationals who assisted British troops after what critics hailed as a concession.

A Home Office minister said the Government will not send those who are eligible under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) to Rwanda.

The new law aims to clear the way to send asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats on a one-way flight to Kigali.

The legislation and a treaty with Rwanda are intended to prevent further legal challenges to the stalled 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.

The Prime Minister says the policy will act as a deterrent to migrants attempting to make the perilous journey across the worldā€™s busiest shipping lane.

In a statement, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called the Bill ā€œan extortionately expensive gimmick rather than a serious plan to tackle dangerous boat crossingsā€.

ā€œThe Rwanda scheme will cost more than half a billion pounds for just 300 people, less than one per cent of asylum seekers here in the UK ā€“ and there is no plan for the 99%,ā€ she said.

ā€œInstead of spending Ā£2 million per asylum seeker on this failing scheme they should be putting that money into boosting our border security instead, that is Labourā€™s practical plan.

ā€œThis is the third new law the Tories have passed on Channel crossings in two years, each one has made the chaos worse and even senior Tory MPs donā€™t believe this third law will work.

ā€œAs former immigration minister Robert Jenrick has said this is just a plan to get a few symbolic flights off before an election.

ā€œNow the new law has passed, the Conservatives will immediately sign another Ā£50 million cheque to Rwanda on top of the Ā£200 million sent so far, even though not a single asylum seeker has yet been sent.

ā€œThe Conservatives should drop this eye-wateringly expensive election stunt and instead adopt Labourā€™s practical plan boost our border security with new cross-border police and new counter terror style powers to crack down on the criminal gangs, and a new Returns and Enforcement Unit to remove those who have no right to be here.ā€

Earlier on Monday, Rishi Sunak blamed Labour peers for holding up the Bill, as he acknowledged he will miss his self-imposed spring target for getting the Rwanda scheme off the ground.

Having completed its parliamentary passage, the Bill now goes for royal assent.

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