MPs reject ALL of the Lords’ amendments to Rwanda Bill as ‘ping-pong’ politics in Parliament continues
MPs have dismissed all the Lords’ amendments, with Labour MPs calling the bill “doomed to fail.”
MPs voted 315 to 250, majority 65, to disagree with Lords amendment 1B, which had sought to ensure the Bill has “due regard” for domestic and international law.
MPs voted 317 to 246, majority 71, to reject a Lords proposal for Rwanda to be only regarded as safe for as long as the provisions of the UK’s treaty with that country are in place.
MPs voted 319 to 249, majority 70, to reject Lords amendment 6B, which sought to restore the jurisdiction of domestic courts and allow individual immigration decisions to take into account the safety of Rwanda.
MPs voted 319 to 249, majority 70, to reject Lords amendment 7B, which would have required age assessments for those facing removal to Rwanda to be conducted by local authorities.
MPs voted 320 to 246, majority 74, to reject Lords amendment nine, which sought to identify and protect victims of modern slavery and human trafficking from being removed to Rwanda without their consent.
The motion also included supporting a Government proposal to commit ministers to reporting to Parliament on how the Bill operates in relation to modern slavery victims.
MPs voted 312 to 253, majority 59, to reject Lords amendment 10B, which sought to exempt agents, allies and employees of the UK overseas from being removed to Rwanda.
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Speaking in the Commons before the vote, Conservative MP Sir Bill Cash said: “The real question now is, let’s get this Bill done, let’s get the House of Lords to calm down a bit, let us also at the same time wait for what is inevitably going to be another claim and then see what the judgment of the Supreme Court is on the wording, providing it is clear and unambiguous, of this Bill.
“That is all I need to say, I may come back again however if there is another insistence by the Lords on these ridiculous amendments.”
Shadow Home Office minister Stephen Kinnock said the Rwanda scheme is “doomed to fail.”
He said: “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.”
Opening the debate, Home Office minister Michael Tomlinson said: “Here we are back again debating the same issues and amendments we have already rejected.
“”We are not quite at the point yet of completing each other’s sentences, but we are almost there.”
The Bill will return to the Lords on Tuesday for further scrutiny.