Lords Holding Firm On Rwanda Bill Dampens No.10 Hopes Of Spring Deportations

Rishi Sunak’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda will not become law until next week at the earliest, after the House of Lords held out and continued to change the bill on Wednesday night.

MPs will get the chance to vote on the legislation again on Monday, after it was pushed into a rare fourth round of parliamentary ping-pong by the continued inclusion of Lords amendments.

Downing Street had hoped the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill would receive royal assent by the end of the week, with the parliamentary process having been widely expected to wrap up on Wednesday.

But peers' support of proposals to institute a monitoring committee to ensure the safety of Rwanda and to exempt people who have supported British armed forces overseas to be exempted from being sent to Rwanda, put forward by Lord Hope and Lord Browne respectively, mean that the bill must now return to the Commons for MPs to approve the changes. This means the process will continue until at least next week. 

PoliticsHome understands that it is considered unusual for crossbenchers to hold out for so long when it comes to amending government legislation, as they generally do not wish to interfere with the will of the elected house. MPs have already voted to support the bill in its current form. 

But one Lords source described the relationship between the government and peers as “poisoned” by the back and forth, and the “ridiculous” blaming of peers for delays. 

Ministers have repeatedly blamed the Lords for delaying the legislation, but earlier in the process there had been some confusion as to why the government had not brought it back for more consideration before the Easter recess. 

On Thursday Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt