Right wing Tory MPs say Rishi Sunak's Rwanda Bill 'doesn't go far enough'
Rishi Sunak's desperate bid to hold his warring Tory Party together has been dealt a hammer blow as right-wing MPs said his make-or-break Rwanda Bill doesn't go "far enough".
In a brutal judgement the right-wing European Research Group (ERG) faction dismissed the PM's Safety of Rwanda Bill, branding it a "partial and incomplete solution". MPs will vote on the Bill tomorrow, with a rebellion of just 28 Tories needed to torpedo it - an outcome that could topple the PM.
But on Monday evening the One Nation Group of Tory MPs - representing the party's liberal wing - announced it would support the PM's Rwanda vote despite "our real concerns".
Mr Sunak is under intense pressure as the Parliamentary party goes to war over the Rwanda scheme, which Supreme Court judges have said is unlawful. The ERG said the Bill will need "very significant amendments" to be effective following intense scrutiny by Tory lawyers.
ERG chairman Mark Francois said two previous laws passed to stop the boats - the Nationality and Borders Act and the Illegal Migration Act - haven't worked, and warned the current Bill won't achieve its aims either. "This is kind of three strikes and you're out," he said.
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The UK Government has already handed £240million to the African nation - with this figure set to rise by a further £50million later this year. Mr Sunak faces calls to scrap the deal altogether, having so far failed to send a single person there. Rwanda itself has said it will pull out if the UK breaches international law.
In a highly unusual move, the Government has released a summary of legal advice given to ministers about the project. It said there are "risks inherent" in sticking with the project but said there is a "clear lawful basis" for proceeding. It acknowledged there is an "exceptionally narrow route to individual challenge" and admitted that blocking court challenges would be "a breach of international law" and "alien to the UK’s constitutional tradition of liberty and justice".
It comes after a "star chamber" of legal experts, on behalf of the ERG said the latest Bill falls short - echoing the verdict of former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick.
The ERG said: "In summary, the Bill overall provides a partial and incomplete solution to the problem of legal challenges in the UK courts being used as stragems to delay or defeat the removal of illegal migrants to Rwanda. The Prime Minister may well be right when he claims that this is the 'toughest piece of migration legislation ever put forward by a UK Government'., but we do not belive believe that it goes far enough to deliver the policy as intended."
The right-wing group said that "very significant amendments" would be needed to make the Bill effective, adding that the final version would "look very different". The more moderate One Nation faction will release its own judgement later today amid Government fears they could reject it too.
A "star chamber" of Tory lawyers have been locked in talks over the PM's plans amid claims the emergency legislation - designed to swerve the Supreme Court ruling - will not work. Yesterday former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, who resigned last week, said he will not support the "weak Bill that will not work".
Members of the centrist One Nation faction of Tory MPs also met on Monday and announced they would support the PM's vote - but issued a warning to right-wing colleagues.
Chairman of the group and former Deputy PM Damian Green said: "We have taken the decision that the most important thing at this stage is to support the Bill despite our real concerns. We strongly urge the Government to stand against any attempt to amend the Bill in a way that would make it unacceptable to those who believe that support for the rule of law is a basic Conservative principle".
The group, which boasts 106 MPs in its membership, also said they would oppose their attempts to alter the Bill by colleagues wanting to breach "the rule of law and international obligations".
The Government insists the Rwanda project - through which asylum seekers in the UK could be deported to Kigali - will deter people from crossing the Channel by small boat.
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The Home Office has earmarked at least £700 million to manage the arrival of migrants on small boats until 2030, with the option of extending the contracts until 2034. The PM's official spokesman said this is a "contingency plan" and will include exit clauses.
The money will be spent running the Western Jet Foil facility in Dover and the reception centre at the former Manston airfield in Kent. Home Office modelling, first reported by The Times, suggests 99.5% of individual legal challenges by asylum seekers will fail to block their deportation under the Bill.
The proposed legislation seeks to allow Parliament to deem Rwanda a "safe" country and block courts and tribunals from considering claims that the country will not act in accordance with the Refugee Convention or other international obligations.
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