Rwanda Bill changes ‘will delay small boat efforts’
Changes made by peers to Rishi Sunak's proposed Rwanda asylum law will delay efforts to tackle small boat crossings, Conservative former leader Michael Howard has warned.
The Tory peer made his comments as the controversial legislation heads back to the Commons where the Government will seek to overturn a string of amendments agreed by the Lords.
The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, which suffered 10 defeats in the unelected chamber, received an unopposed third reading, although critics made clear their opposition to the "stinker" plan.
MPs will get a chance to debate and vote on the amendments on Monday.
Speaking at Westminster, Lord Howard of Lympne said: “I cast no aspersions on the motivation which has led to the amendments which members have passed.
“But an undeniable consequence of most of those amendments would be delay – delay in dealing with an issue which is regarded as important and urgent by very many people in our country. An issue to which no alternative remedy has been advanced.
“I therefore hope that this point may be taken into account by members in another place (the Commons) even if not by most peers.”
But Green Party peer Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb argued another option had been put forward in the form of safe and legal routes for migrants.
She added: “This Bill is an absolute stinker. It is the worst of the worst.”
Labour frontbencher Lord Coaker urged ‘proper consideration’ of the amendments made to the ‘difficult and controversial’ legislation.
Responding to Labour criticism of the Rwanda
Bill in December, the Conservative House of Commons leader and MP for Portsmouth North, Penny Mordaunt, said:
“The Opposition have put forward no alternative [to the Rwanda plan]. So my question to them is, what is the objection? It can’t be a legal one. It does not break international law, nor does it blur the distinction between law makers and those that interpret the law.
“It can’t be a moral objection, [because] it is a moral crusade to use every single tool that we have to end the trafficking of human beings.”