Rishi Sunak is set to face down the House of Lords over the Rwanda asylum plan with MPs and peers preparing to sit late into the night as they debate the law designed to get the much-delayed policy off the ground.
The Prime Minister will argue that the Lords is blocking “the will of the people” in a Brexit-style attempt to pit voters against unelected peers.
But he is not prepared to make concessions which would enable the Safety of Rwanda Bill to become law more quickly by satisfying the objections set out by the House of Lords.
The bill is designed to allow deportation flights to Rwanda to start within weeks, by overriding all of the legal blocks approved by courts which previously stopped flights.
Peers have repeatedly backed two amendments to the legislation, one exempting people who have worked with the British military from being deported to the African country and another forcing ministers to prove that Rwanda is a safe place for asylum seekers to live.
Labour insiders said the party would continue to whip its peers to support the amendments, setting up an extended period of “ping pong” between the Commons and the Lords unless the Conservatives can convince their own Lords members to come out in force to vote against the motions.
A senior government source said: “The PM is very clear that we want Labour to let this bill pass. Labour need to respect the will of the people.” Rishi Sunak has warned that votes will continue throughout the night tonight if necessary to reach a version of the bill that is backed by the Commons and Lords.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg told i the view of MPs must prevail, saying: “A number of peers, including Lord Anderson of Ipswich and the Archbishop of Canterbury, have accepted the basic constitutional principle that the elected chamber must ultimately have its way. Those peers who continue to frustrate the Rwanda plan clearly do not accept this and deserve censure for their attempted constitutional vandalism.”
The only formal mechanism for the Commons to overrule the Lords is the Parliament Act, which cannot be invoked before the general election expected later this year.
Labour peers reject the suggestion that they are responsible for the delays to the Safety of Rwanda Bill, pointing out that they have been joined by large numbers of crossbenchers in recent votes.
If the bill does become law this week, the Home Office will immediately begin the process of selecting around 200 asylum seekers who entered Britain illegally – such as by crossing the Channel in small boats – to be deported to Rwanda. Their case will be heard there and they will stay permanently if they are found to be eligible for refugee status.
A source said: “The process has been under way for some time and we will be ready to start as soon as the bill gets royal assent.” The Government is also planning an advertising campaign in countries where asylum seekers are most likely to come from in an attempt to convince would-be migrants they should not try to reach the UK.
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