Senior Tory Wants To Make The Rwanda Bill Less Of A Legal "Glass Jaw"

Senior Conservative MP Robert Buckland says his amendments to Rishi Sunak's Rwanda bill will stop the legislation being a "glass jaw" by making it less legally problematic.

Buckland, the former Cabinet minister and member of the One Nation group of moderate Tories, tabled three amendments to the legislation on Wednesday night prior to its return to Parliament next week, and is considering laying further amendments before the Thursday cut-off. 

The legislation, which is central to the Prime Minister's pledge to stop small boats crossings, will be put to further House of Commons votes when it undergoes its committee stage on Tuesday and Wednesday. Conservative MPs are braced for a fresh intra-party row to erupt once it returns, with different wings of the party pushing the government to move in opposing directions. 

More moderate Tories like Buckland have warned Sunak they cannot support any legislation that risked breaking international law – a criticism that has already been levelled at the proposals – while MPs on the right of the party complain the bill does not go far enough to remove the all avenues for migrants to appeal deportation orders.

On Tuesday night, MPs on the right including Robert Jenrick – the former Home Office minister – and leading Brexiteer Bill Cash tabled their own series of amendments to the Rwanda bill, which if passed, would force ministers to go further in overriding the Human Rights Act and European Convention of Human Rights in order to prevent flights to Rwanda being stopped by legal challenges.

Buckland last night tabled what essentially amount to counter-arguments, with the Conservative senior backbencher arguing that his proposals will make it less likely that the government finds itself being