Rishi Sunak warned the House of Lords not to defy “the will of the people” on Thursday after he quelled a Commons revolt by Tory backbenchers against his Rwanda deportation plan.
But the Prime Minister faced reported letters of no confidence from several Conservative MPs, and resistance was expected in the Lords.
One peer warned against a drift towards “totalitarianism” by the Government, which is refusing to rule out ignoring international law in its plan to start flying migrants for resettlement in the East African nation by the spring.
The Safety of Rwanda Bill passed its third and final reading by MPs with a majority of 44 on Wednesday night. Despite days of angry rhetoric, only 11 Conservatives voted against in the Commons, including former home secretary Suella Braverman.
Hardline “Red Wall” MP Lee Anderson confessed to losing his nerve and abstaining, despite resigning from his role as a Tory deputy chairman to back unsuccessful rebel amendments against the bill earlier in the week.
Other Conservative critics such as Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg fell into line after ministers warned against a damaging display of election-year disunity and tried to turn the tables on Labour, accusing the Opposition of lacking any plan of its own to combat boatloads of migrants crossing the Channel.
“It’s now time for the Lords to pass this Bill too. This is an urgent national priority,” the Prime Minister told a news conference on Thursday morning, playing down the Tory divisions. “The treaty with Rwanda is signed and the legislation which deems Rwanda a safe country has been passed unamended in our elected chamber.
“There is now only one question: will the Opposition in the appointed House of Lords try and frustrate the will of the people as expressed by the elected House? Or will they get on board and do the right thing? It’s as simple as that.”
Mr Sunak insisted the Bill was “robust and compliant with all our obligations”. But to placate his backbench critics, the PM said he was prepared to ignore any fresh “pyjama injunctions” blocking flights by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
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That invited trouble in the Lords, where there is no shortage of lawyers, former judges and bishops anxious that Britain preserve its compliance with international law.
The Rwanda plan could return to the Commons in mid to late March. But even after it passes into law, there is every likelihood of appeals holding up individual deportations, despite Government attempts to limit legal redress.
Lord Carlile, a crossbench peer who formerly served as the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, accused the Government of taking “a step towards totalitarianism” by defying a Supreme Court ruling and declaring that Rwanda was a safe destination.
