LET'S FLY
Rishi Sunak tells unelected Lords to ‘do the right thing’ as he says Rwanda plan is ‘urgent national priority’
The Prime Minister also took aim at Labour and Sir Keir Starmer
RISHI Sunak demanded the unelected Lords back his flagship Rwanda plan saying it was an "urgent national priority" to "start the flights".
The Prime Minister used a hastily-arranged press conference in Downing Street to urge peers to rally round his deportation bill.
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But the PM did not give a guarantee a plane to Rwanda will take off before the next general election when pressed by the media.
He said: "I have been crystal clear that we want to do this as quickly as possible...
"And it's now up to the House of Lords."
His comments came after the Commons passed his Rwanda plan by a majority of 44 after fears it could be defeated by Tory rebels.
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Shortly after the PM stood on his feet, the Home Office confirmed 358 migrants in eight boats were detected crossing the Channel yesterday.
Mr Sunak said: “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?”
He added: "It's now time for the Lords to pass this Bill. This is an urgent national priority.
"The treaty with Rwanda is signed and the legislation which deems Rwanda a safe country has been passed unamended in our elected chamber."
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Despite 11 Tory MPs voting against the legislation, he told the news conference that the Conservative Party had "come together" to pass the legislation.
Senior Tories including ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman and ex-Home Office Minister Robert Jenrick voted against the bill.
The PM pointed to small boat arrivals being down by over a third last year, but added: "We are making progress to stop the boats. But now it's past time to start the flights."
He took aim at Sir Keir Starmer and Labour, accusing them of having no plan to tackle the small boat crisis.
He said that Labour may "talk the talk but they have no plan" and if in power, would give the "green light" to people smugglers.
In a bid to ingratiate himself with the right of his party, the PM also reiterated he was willing to ignore orders from the European Court of Human Rights, even if this breached international law.
Asked if he would overrule so-called rule 39 injunctions from the Strasbourg Court in order to get flights off to Rwanda, he said: “I’ve been crystal clear repeatedly that I won’t let a foreign court stop us from getting flights off and getting this deterrent up and running.
“The Bill specifically contains a power that makes it clear that ministers are the ones that make these decisions. Parliament has supported that. There’s also, the Bill makes expressly clear that the domestic courts should respect that decision.
“Very simply, we would not have that clause, I would not have put that clause in the Bill, if I was not prepared to use it.
“So, if you’re asking me are there circumstances in which I will ignore rule 39s, then the answer is clearly yes.”
When asked directly by The Sun what those circumstances were, the PM did not provide any detail.
He said: " I specifically put a clause in the Bill that makes it clear that it is ministers that make those decisions. I wouldn't have put that clause in the Bill if I wasn't prepared to use it. "
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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
What happens next?
- Rishi Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill has cleared its final Commons hurdle, meaning it now progresses to the House of Lords where peers will scrutinise the legislation.
Will the Lords put up a fight?
- Almost certainly, peers will try to water down the legislation. Many have already made clear their disdain for the Rwanda plan, with arch-critic Lord Carlile already admitting he and many colleagues will try to sink it. Mr Sunak also lacks a majority in the Lords, and even if he did, peers - usually unbothered about climbing the political ladder - are far less likely to toe the party line.
So is it game over?
- No. The will of the elected Commons trumps that of the unelected Lords. This means that while peers can totally gut the Rwanda Bill and send it back to MPs in a weakened form, the government can overrule these changes and throw it back to the Lords as they first voted for it. This back and forth - known as ping pong - can only happen so much before the peers cave and MPs get their way.
So what’s the problem?
- By tabling relentless changes to the Bill, the Lords can grind up the whole process and ultimately push back Mr Sunak's hope of getting the first flights off by the spring.
What has the PM said?
- Mr Sunak today fired a warning shot at the unelected peers not to stand in the way of MPs to thwart the vital Rwanda plan.
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