Rishi Sunak still can't say if Rwanda flights will take off before next election

18 January 2024 , 18:07

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Rishi Sunak tried to shift blame onto peers for his stalled Rwanda deportation plan (Image: PA)

Rishi Sunak still can't say if deportation flights to Rwanda will take off before the election as he teed up a showdown with peers over the divisive plan.

The Prime Minister echoed Theresa May's Brexit warnings to urge the House of Lords "not to frustrate the will of the people" by opposing the Safety of Rwanda Bill when it comes to the upper Chamber later this month. Mr Sunak survived threats from Conservative right-wingers to torpedo the legislation - as only 11 Tory MPs rebelled in a crunch Commons vote on Wednesday night.

Another 18 MPs abstained, including Theresa May and former Tory Deputy Chairman Lee Anderson, who quit his party post to oppose the plan but bottled it after Labour MPs laughed at him in the division lobbies. The plan is expected to face serious opposition in the House of Lords, where the Tories don’t have a majority.

Crossbench peer Lord Carlisle, a former independent reviewer of terror legislation, warned the Bill was “a step towards totalitarianism”. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We've seen in various countries the damage that is done when governments use perceived and often ill-judged political imperatives to place themselves above the courts - this is a step towards totalitarianism and an attitude that the United Kingdom usually deprecates."

Rishi Sunak is battling to stop the flow of migrants arriving in Britain in small boats (AFP via Getty Images)

At a Downing Street press conference, the rattled Prime Minister claimed his party was "completely united" behind the plan despite days of public infighting. "It's now time for the Lords to pass this Bill. This is an urgent national priority," he said.

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"The treaty with Rwanda is signed and the legislation which deems Rwanda a safe country has been passed unamended in our elected chamber. There is now only one question. Will the opposition in the appointed House of Lords try and frustrate the will of the people as expressed by the elected House? Or will they get on board and do the right thing?"

But he was unable to guarantee whether a flight to Kigali could take off before the general election. He said that he wants flights in the air “as soon as possible", and claimed “the question really is for the House of Lords”.

The PM made it clear he was prepared to ignore injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights, which could breach international law. He told reporters: "If you’re asking me are there circumstances in which I will ignore Rule 39 [interim injunctions], the answer is clearly yes.”

Amid reports that disgruntled Tories are sending letters of no confidence in his leadership, Mr Sunak was confronted on whether he was the wrong man for the job. He replied: "I'm interested in sticking with the plan I set out for the British people because that plan is working."

It comes after a shock poll found support for the Tories has fallen to 20% - its lowest level since Liz Truss was PM. Labour has a 27 point lead, the YouGov survey found.

Mr Sunak's rant was met with scepticism in the Lords, where the Government ministers have already agreed an ordinary timetable for the Bill - rather than a sped up process. The Bill will have its second reading in the Lords on January 29 and is expected to complete its scrutiny in the upper Chamber by mid March.

A Lords insider told the Mirror: "The Sunak comments this morning are just bizarre. "The idea that Labour, the Liberal Democrats and lawyers are trying to frustrate the process - it's a return to the Theresa May tactics and that clearly worked out so well for her."

Lizzy Buchan