Rwanda Bill defeat as peers vote down plan to oust courts
PEERS have inflicted further heavy defeats on Rishi Sunak’s proposed Rwanda asylum law including an amendment that opens the door to legal challenges against the entire scheme.
Yesterday, the House of Lords backed a move to overturn the Government’s plan to oust the courts from the process, by 278 votes to 189.
It effectively blows a hole in the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, which is intended to prevent continued legal challenges to the deportation scheme after the Supreme Court ruled the plan was unlawful.
As well as compelling judges to regard the east African country as safe, the legislation would also give ministers the power to ignore emergency injunctions, aimed at clearing the way to send asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats on a one-way flight to Kigali, the capital.
The amendment agreed by the Lords restores the jurisdiction of domestic courts in relation to the safety of Rwanda and enables them to intervene.
The Lords also voted by 265 to 181 to let the courts consider appeals against age-assessment decisions before a person claiming to be an unaccompanied child is removed to Rwanda.
The setbacks to the Rwanda Bill follow five defeats on Monday, setting the stage for a tussle between the Commons and Lords during “ping-pong”, where legislation is batted between the two Houses until agreement is reached.
The Prime Minister had previously warned the Lords against frustrating “the will of the people” by hampering the passage of the Bill, which has already been approved by MPS.