Rwanda f lights are grounded by Labour peers again... for now

‘A fourth round of ping-pong next week’

LABOUR peers sparked fury last night by again holding up Rishi Sunak’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda.

They inflicted two more defeats in House of Lords votes, reintroducing measures that had been rejected by MPs twice already this week.

The troubled legislation will now not return to the Commons until Monday, scuppering Downing Street’s aim for it to gain royal assent this week.

And it means a further delay before the first deportation flight to Africa can take off, despite ministers insisting it can still happen this spring.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said: ‘Terrified that the Rwanda scheme will work, and desperate to delay or disrupt over a hundred votes about stopping the boats, Labour have acted again to block the passage of the Rwanda Bill.

‘It’s been another politically cynical effort by them, who have no alternative deterrent and no plan to tackle illegal migration, to frustrate the only solution on offer. We want to break the criminal people- smuggling gangs and stop the boats.’

Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom urged peers not to block the law again, saying: ‘The time has come to get the Bill on to the statute book.’

But there is also anger and bewilderment among some Tories that Government officials did not force Parliament to sit through the night to get the Bill passed more quickly. One said: ‘It makes absolutely no sense to delay if you think this Bill will stop the boats.’

It was back in November that the PM vowed to bring in ‘emergency legislation’ so that migrants could be finally deported to Rwanda after the Supreme Court ruled the scheme unlawful.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill together with a treaty with Kigali were intended to declare the country safe and prevent further legal challenges.

But it has endured a rough ride through Parliament with immigration minister Robert Jenrick quitting over fears it was not tough enough.

Although a threatened Commons rebellion by Right-wing Tories in January melted away, the Government has suffered ten defeats in the House of Lords between January and March with some Tories and bishops among the peers saying it went too far.

Then, to the frustration of many Conservatives, the progress of the Bill was delayed further as the Government decided to wait until after the Easter recess to bring it back.

MPs undid the Lords changes in six votes on Monday before peers inserted four more amendments on Tuesday in a process known as ping-pong.

These were again removed by the Commons on Wednesday afternoon but when the Bill returned to the Lords last night, two more amendments were

pressed to votes. The first requirement, tabled by crossbench peer and former Supreme Court judge Lord Hope of Craighead, stated that Rwanda cannot be treated as safe until certified as such by an independent monitoring body.

It was backed by Labour and pushed through by 245 votes to 208. The second amendment,

tabled by Labour’s Lord Browne of Ladyton, again demanded protection from deportation for people who have served with British armed forces overseas – including Afghan interpreters.

Labour frontbencher Lord Coaker told peers: ‘It is an absolutely astonishing situation. It is wrong, it is morally bankrupt. And the Government has failed

in its duty to protect those it promised to protect.’

That went through by 247 votes to 195. Veterans’ minister Johnny Mercer last night branded Labour’s concern ‘fake’, adding: ‘ Controlling our borders and stopping illegal immigration is not morally wrong.’

It means a rare fourth round of ping-pong next week.