Migrant emergency declared after Lords stall Rwanda Bill

LABOUR has been blasted for blocking the Government’s Rwanda deportation plan as No10 declared a “migrant emergency”.

Wednesday was the busiest day so far for Channel crossings in 2024, with 514 people making the journey in 10 small boats.

More than 4,000 people are thought to have travelled from France this year, Home Office figures show – with at least another 300 yesterday. There were 29,437 arrivals across the whole of 2023, down 36% on a record 45,774 in 2022.

MPs are not scheduled to debate the Government’s Rwanda Bill until Westminster returns from its Easter break as ministers stand off with the Lords.

Ambition

The legislation aims to stop the boats, one of PM Rishi Sunak’s key pledges.

Dame Andrea Leadsom, inset, said she was “disgusted that Labour tried to stop it in the Lords yet again”.

She added: “We’re absolutely determined to get that Bill through. It’s coming back to the Commons on April 15 and we will be overturning the seven amendments in the Lords that we’ve already overturned once this week.

“We will do it again for the sake of what this country needs, which is to stop illegal migration.”

Illegal Migration Minister Michael Tomlinson said: “Labour have admitted they have neither the ambition nor the plan to stop the boats. They opposed our Safety of Rwanda Bill in the House of Lords, proving they’d take us straight back to square one when it comes to tackling illegal migration.” The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “The legislation is dealing with a migration emergency and we are introducing that legislation as soon as we possibly can.” He added that it was “frustrating” the Lords had not passed the Bill but made changes to the legislation that mean it has to go back to the Commons.

He said: “It is exactly because we are still seeing people making this perilous journey across the Channel that the PM wants parliamentarians across the House to get behind this Bill.” Sir Keir Starmer said his party was committed to stopping small boats. He said: “There’s no ifs or buts. It’s a massive problem. It gives this sense of having lost control of our borders. What I wouldn’t do…is to grandstand or just try and find headlines in relation to gimmicks that won’t work. Rwanda is a gimmick that won’t work.”

He said Labour would process asylum claims more quickly and work on return agreements to send migrants back.