As 534 cross Channel, MPs told: Now pass Rwanda bill
PARLIAMENT was urged to finally pass the Rwanda bill last night after the number of illegal Channel crossings hit a new daily high for 2024.
Latest figures revealed that 534 migrants in 10 boats reached Britain on Sunday, following 214 in five dinghies the day before.
That takes the total number of arrivals so far this year to 6,265 – 28 per cent higher than by this time last year.
Downing Street admitted the figures were ‘unacceptable’ and said they showed the need for the new Safety of Rwanda Bill – which has been held up by Government defeats in the House of Lords – to deter more people from making the crossing.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘It’s an unacceptable number of people who continue to cross the Channel and it demonstrates exactly why we must pass this Bill and get flights off the ground as soon as possible and provide the important deterrent that the Bill will provide.’
The legislation, which declares Rwanda is a safe country for migrants to be sent to after the Supreme Court ruled the scheme unlawful last autumn, returned to the Commons last night for fresh consideration of amend ments voted through by the Lords before Easter.
Illegal Migration Minister Michael Tomlinson told MPs: ‘Here we are, back again, debating the same issues and amendments we have already rejected. We’re not quite at the point yet of completing each others’ sentences, but we are almost there.
‘The issue before the House is whether the clearly expressed views of this House, throughout the entire passage of the Bill, should prevail.
‘We cannot accept amendments to provide for loopholes which would perpetuate the current cycle of delays and late legal challenges.
‘We have a moral duty to stop the boats. We must bring an end to the dangerous, unnecessary and illegal methods that have been deployed. We must protect our borders and, most importantly, save lives at sea.’
He added: ‘Our partnership with Rwanda is a key part of our strategy. The message is absolutely clear: if you come to the United Kingdom illegally, you will not be able to stay; you will be detained and swiftly returned to your country, to a safe country or to a safe third country, Rwanda.’
He rejected the need for the Lords’ amendments, including one that would exempt those who helped UK armed forces overseas from being deported, insisting ‘we will not let them down’.
But Shadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock said the Rwanda scheme was ‘doomed to fail’ and that in the two years since it was announced, it had led to hundreds of millions of pounds being handed to the Rwandan government, while the only people flown to the capital Kigali had been three Home Secretaries. ‘The boats have kept coming, the backlog has kept growing and the people-smugglers are still laughing all the way to the bank.
‘Two years of headline-chasing gimmicks, two years of pursuing a policy that is fundamentally unworkable, unaffordable and unlawful. Two years of flogging this dead horse,’ he said.
It is expected that the Lords will table more amendments aimed at watering down the Bill again today, which could be passed if crossbenchers and rebel Tories continue their opposition to the plan.
That will lead to a final round of parliamentary ‘ping pong’ on Wednesday when the Bill returns to the Commons for the amendments to be undone again before they are finally agreed to by the Lords. Ministers then hope the first deportation flight will take off ‘within weeks’.
However, refugee charities,
‘We must protect our borders’ ‘Flights could take off in weeks’
including Care4Calais, have vowed to launch legal challenges.
Veteran Tory MP Sir Bill Cash told the Commons: ‘Let’s get this Bill done. Let’s get the House of Lords to calm down a bit.
‘Let us also see what the judgement of the Supreme Court is on the wording – providing it is clear and unambiguous – of this Bill.’
MPs began voting on a series of amendments to the Bill at 8.30pm last night. Due to the Tory majority, the Government was expected to win all of them, undoing the changes inserted by the Lords.