Persistent Rwanda Deadlock Could Kill Rishi Sunak's Deportation Plans

Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill will be back in front of MPs on Monday, as parliamentary ping-pong has pushed the process into another week, and while the Prime Minister is insistent it will clear its final hurdles, a rarely used convention could put its future at risk.

Government had hope that the legislation would be wrapped up to receive royal assent earlier this week, however the House of Lords backed two amendments again on Wednesday, meaning there will be at least one other round of votes in the Commons next week. 

Peers have been changing their amendments slightly every time the bill has come back to the Upper House, which means despite several rounds of back and forth, a process known as 'double insistence' that could lead to the bill being killed entirely has been avoided. However, one peer has said that a “credible threat” of using the mechanism could “strengthen” peers’ position in the negotiations.

According to the Parliament website, double insistence is “when the Commons and the Lords cannot reach agreement on part of a Bill. “If neither House will back down and no compromise can be found, it is likely that the entire Bill will be lost,” it explains.  

Double insistence is triggered if an amendment with exactly the same wording is sent from one House to the other twice. 

Crossbencher and former Independent Reviewer of Terror Legislation Lord David Anderson of Ipswich told PoliticsHome that constitutional arrangements could “grow rusty” if they are not used. 

“If we insist on an amendment that the Commons has already rejected, the government either has to accept that amendment or lose its Bill for a year or more until the Parliament Act can be used to bring it back," he explained. 

Four more ⁦@UKHouseofLords⁩ defeats for