Sunak criticised for Rwanda vote not being an all-nighter

MINISTERS have come under fire for failing to “run votes through the night” as peers blocked Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill for a fourth time yesterday, threatening further delays to the first deportation flights.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former Tory leader, said the Government should have kept Parliament sitting round the clock until the ping-pong legislative battle between the Lords and the Commons was resolved and the Bill was passed.

Peers backed two amendments – to exempt Afghan workers who served alongside the British military and to introduce extra checks on whether Rwanda is safe for asylum seekers – by majorities of 52 and 37 votes.

Just hours earlier, both amendments had been rejected for a third time by the Commons. The stand-off means the final stages of the Safety of Rwanda Bill will now be delayed until Monday, when it will return to the Commons for the fourth time.

Sir Iain criticised the Government for its “soft” tactics, saying: “Why don’t we do it tonight? I don’t understand why the Government goes soft. Why isn’t the Government running it round the clock? We [MPS] don’t mind because we want to get it done.

“Every day lost is a day wasted. Lots of MPS are saying why didn’t we run it round the clock before Easter. Under Baroness Thatcher, that would have been the approach.”

Mr Sunak has previously said he hopes the deportation flights to Rwanda can begin before the end of the spring.

Officials anticipate that the legal appeal process required under law for migrants will take between four and eight weeks, which could push the first flights to June.

It is unusual to have four rounds of legislative back-and-forth between MPS and peers, although there were similar battles over the Government’s levelling up and economic crime Bills.

Senior Tory MPS accused the Lords of breaching a long standing agreement that the Upper House “refines”, but does not block, legislation from the democratically-elected Commons.

Sir John Hayes, a former Home Office minister, said: “Many peers will take the view that their legitimacy depends on their acceptance that the elected House’s will must prevail. When the Lords challenges that, it undermines their own legitimacy.”