Rebellious peers shout ‘shame’ as Rwanda Bill arrives in House of Lords… barely an hour after Rishi Sunak warns the unelected chamber must not ‘frustrate the will of the …

Rebellious peers shouted ‘shame’ as the Rwanda Bill arrived in the House of Lords today – barely an hour after Rishi Sunak warned them not to block the legislation.

In an apparent signal of intent, heckling could be heard as clerks announced that the Commons had passed the proposals. 

The scenes happened shortly after the PM used a Downing Street press conference to urge the Lords not to ‘frustrate the will of the people’.

Mr Sunak insisted he is on track to ‘Stop the Boats’ after seeing off a Tory revolt to force the flagship legislation through the Commons.

But he said the ‘very strong majority’ meant peers must now ‘do the right thing’ and let the Rwanda proposals go through the Upper House. They have been threatening to ‘destroy’ it or delay so that flights cannot take off before the general election.

The Bill was given its third reading by 320 to 276 in the Commons after rebels stopped short of inflicting a defeat that could potentially have collapsed the government.

Despite 60 MPs supporting a slew of amendments that unsuccessfully tried to toughen the measures, in the end just 11 Tories voted to crash the law altogether. They included Suella Braverman and former migration minister Robert Jenrick. 

The government’s majority – theoretically 54 – was cut to a still-comfortable 44. 

The victory came at a huge political cost to Mr Sunak, with deep rifts between Conservatives laid bare again just months before a general election.

But he argued this morning that his party is ‘completely united’. ‘The Conservative Party is completely united in wanting to deliver for the country, cut their taxes and, crucially, to stop the boats,’ Mr Sunak said. 

The PM used a Downing Street press conference to urge the Lords not to ‘frustrate the will of the people’ on the Rwanda Bill 

Rebellious peers shouted ‘shame’ as the Rwanda Bill arrived in the House of Lords today – barely an hour after Rishi Sunak warned them not to block the legislation

Shocking footage showed more migrants risking their lives in the Channel yesterday as Tories descended into civil war over whether Rishi Sunak ‘s Rwanda plan can stop them

Just 11 Tories voted against the measures at third reading, including Suella Braverman and former migration minister Robert Jenrick

The result last night was the culmination of two days of drama in the House of Commons

Suella Braverman was among the Tories who voted against the Bill at third reading 

A YouGov poll for the Times today found Labour has a massive 27-point advantage, with Tory support at just 20 per cent

Sending a message to to peers, the premier said he is ‘not messing around’ and was as ‘frustrated’ as the public about the delays in implementing the plan. 

However, he refused to guarantee that any flights will take off by the Spring, merely saying it will happen ‘as soon as possible’. 

‘There is now only one question,’ he said. ‘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?

‘It’s as simple as that.’

A YouGov poll for the Times today found Labour has a massive 27-point advantage, with Tory support at just 20 per cent. That is the lowest since Liz Truss’s abortive Downing Street stint in October 2022. 

Particularly worrying for Mr Sunak, Reform UK was on 12 per cent – fuelling fears that the right-wing vote will be split when the nation goes to the ballot boxes.

There are claims that a ‘number’ of letters of no confidence have been submitted to the chair of the 1922 committee by Tory MPs in the wake of the Rwanda spat – although it is not clear the rebels are anywhere near the 53 needed to trigger a vote.

The running total is kept a closely guarded secret. 

Downing Street breathed a sigh of relief last night as the Rwanda Bill was safely passed, after two days of carnage that saw two Tory deputy chairs and a ministerial aide quit in protest during two days of carnage.

However, Mr Sunak cannot relax for long as the legislation now moves to the House of Lords, where peers are gearing up for guerrilla warfare to slow or even thwart its progress. 

The PM tried to take the fight to Labour this morning, accusing Keir Starmer of wanting to take Britain back to ‘square one’ and having no plan to tackle Channel crossings. 

‘I’m interested in sticking with the plan I set out for the British people because that plan is working,’ Mr Sunak said.

Cleverly’s risque joke in clashes with Labour’s Yvette Cooper 

James Cleverly made a risque joke as he clashed with Labour’s Yvette Cooper in the Commons tonight.

In her third reading speech in the Commons, the shadow home secretary accused Mr Cleverly of ‘wandering naked around this chamber’ and using a ‘little treaty as a fig leaf to hide his modesty behind’.

But the Cabinet minister saw the funny side in the comment, immediately gesturing with his hands. Those in the chamber suggested he said ‘big treaty’.

Ms Cooper said: ‘They’re trying to con voters, trying to con their own party, but the fact is everybody can see through it now.

‘Here’s a £400 million Rwanda scheme for a few hundred people is like the Emperor’s new clothes and the Prime Minister and his immigration ministers have been desperately spinning the invisible thread, but we can all see through it.

‘The Home Secretary is just wandering naked around this chamber waving a little treaty as a fig leaf to hide his modesty behind.

‘I admit, he doesn’t have much modesty to hide.’

‘It is delivering real change, and if we stick with that plan, we’ll be able to build a brighter future for everyone’s families in this country and a renewed sense of pride in our nation.’

Moving to reassure right-wingers, Mr Sunak stressed he was willing to ignore orders from the European Court of Human Rights, even if this breached international law – but he declined to say in what circumstances he would do so.

‘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,’ he said.

‘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.’

Mr Sunak also gave another commitment to bring in more tax cuts, hailing the fall in inflation.

Stressing that decisions would be taken at the Budget, he said his ‘priority is to cut taxes when it is responsible to do so’. 

Leading lawyer and independent crossbencher Lord Carlile of Berriew has accused the Government of stepping ‘towards totalitarianism’ in its handling of the Rwanda Bill.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the Lords has a duty to protect the public from abuses by the Government.

He said: ‘I think many of us in the House of Lords believe that is exactly what has happened, that good policymaking and the integrity of our legal system are under attack because of internal political quarrelling in the Conservative Party.

‘If you want to blame someone, you can blame the lawyers, but the lawyers on the whole do not accept that. What we are doing is trying to countermand meddling by politicians in the law.

‘It’s been Government elevating itself to an unacceptable level above the law, above our much-admired Supreme Court, and above the reputation internationally of the United Kingdom law.

‘We’ve seen in various countries the damage that is done when governments use perceived and often ill-judged political imperatives to place themselves above the courts – this is a step towards totalitarianism and an attitude that the United Kingdom usually deprecates.

‘I think you’ll find that many of lawyers in the House of Lords will say this is a step too far, this is illegitimate interference by politics with the law, on an issue that can be solved in other ways.’

The KC added: ‘There is a prospect the House of Lords could legitimately and, using proper procedures, delay this matter until it becomes impracticable to bring it into effect before a general election.

‘It conceivably could be delayed until the autumn because Parliament doesn’t sit throughout the summer and there will be challenges which the Government is going to have to take time to address anyway. The House of Lords does not go out of its way to defy the Government, unless the Government does something which plainly makes no sense.’

Lord Carlile said the Bill would be ‘intellectually destroyed’ during committee stage in the Lords and he warned that usual conventions may not apply in the Upper House’s handling of it.

He stated most Bills presented to the Lords are ‘undeniably lawful’ whereas the Rwanda legislation is ‘plainly in breach of international law and runs the risk of the UK destroying its reputation as one of the fountainheads of the rule of law.

‘Therefore, I believe the House of Lords will regard itself as being justified in taking a more unconventional position on this Bill.’

Conservative peer Lord Bourne told BBC Radio there would be a majority in the Lords against the Rwanda legislation.

He added: ‘I’m concerned about the international law aspect of it.

‘I don’t understand why we have painted ourselves into a corner on this when there are other things that we should be doing on migration rather than putting all our eggs in one basket on Rwanda.’

During the Commons votes around 60 Tories repeatedly defied the premier to back amendments designed to toughen the plans. 

None of the tweaks succeeded because they lacked Labour support, but there was a serious threat at the final stage where the Opposition also voted against. 

It only became clear that the mutiny was melting away during the afternoon, as ringleaders signalled they would stick to the whip rather than risking a complete disaster.

In a final plea for MPs to back the Bill last night, Home Secretary James Cleverly insisted the legislation is in ‘complete compliance with international law’.

He lashed out at Labour for refusing to support the Rwanda policy, saying Keir Starmer does not have any plan of its own.

And Mr Cleverly argued that the Tories are ‘united in the agreement that stopping the boats… and getting (the) Rwanda partnership up and running is of the utmost importance’. 

‘To stop the boats completely, to stop them for good, we need to deter people from making these dangerous journeys,’ he said.

Home Office minister Chris Philp said Tory rebels are ‘perfectly entitled’ to back amendments seeking to strengthen Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill.

In a round of interviews this morning, policing minister Chris Philp argued that the PM had emerged ‘stronger’ from the row.

He told Sky News: ‘There are a number of colleagues who had sincerely-held views on how the Bill could be strengthened. They’re perfectly entitled to put their ideas forward and to vote for them as they did.’

Mr Philp added that when it came to the crucial third reading the Bill passed with a healthy majority, meaning the ‘critical’ Government policy could move forward.

He insisted the Government has a plan and is ‘delivering that plan’.

‘I think it’s reasonable for prime ministers to have dialogue with concerned backbenchers … prime ministers of both parties have always spoken to Members of Parliament and you’d want that to happen, otherwise they’ll get isolated and they’ll become out of touch,’ he said.

It would have taken around 28 MPs voting against, twice that many abstentions, or a combination of the two, to overturn the Government’s majority. 

A handful of Conservative MPs seemed to abstain deliberately in the third reading.

They included Lee Anderson, who had quit as party deputy chair to support rebel amendments.

‘I was going to vote no. I went into the no lobby to vote no, because I couldn’t see how I could support the bill after backing all the amendments,’ Mr Anderson told GB News, where he is a presenter. 

‘I got into the no lobby and I spent about two or three minutes with a colleague in there. The Labour lot were giggling and laughing and taking the mick and I couldn’t do it: In my heart of hearts, I couldn’t vote no.’

Rebel ringleader Danny Kruger joked as the debate wound up that the government whips had done a ‘brilliant job today’, and enjoyed more success winning over MPs than him. He acknowledged that many Tories were now backing the Bill to avoid disruption.   

MPs on the Tory Right had gathered in Parliament before the showdown to discuss their tactics.

A source at the meeting warned they could come back if the Lords try to make changes to the legislation that weaken its powers.

‘The PM is by no means out of the woods,’ a source said.  ‘All colleagues are sad at where we have ended up…

‘The majority felt it was necessary to vote it through in part because of the parliamentary party and partly because of the consequences for the Government.’

The source accused Tory moderates – who have warned the PM they won’t stomach any amendments to toughen the Bill – as being ‘out of touch with where the country is’.

They also hit out at the Government over its handling of the latest Tory row, adding: ‘Everybody in the room was deeply upset at the way the Government has handled matters in recent days, particularly the way discussions have been strung along.’ 

The climbdown by Tory rebels came as a huge relief to Downing Street, as the PM continues his efforts to get migrant deportation flights off the ground.

His new legislation, formally titled the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, is aimed at manoeuvring around last year’s Supreme Court ruling against the asylum scheme.

A No 10 spokesman said: ‘The passing of the Bill marks a major step in our plan to stop the boats. This is the toughest legislation ever introduced in Parliament to tackle illegal migration and will make clear that if you come here illegally you will not be able to stay.

‘It is this government and the Conservative party who have got boat crossings down by more than a third. We have a plan, we have made progress and this landmark legislation will ensure we get flights off to Rwanda, deter people from making perilous journeys across the channel and stop the boats.’

In a final plea for MPs to back the Bill this evening, Home Secretary James Cleverly insisted the legislation is in ‘complete compliance with international law’

Veteran Tory Sir Bill Cash was among the MPs who opposed the Bill at third reading stage 

Dozens of people could be seen packed on to a tiny dinghy as it struggled off the coast of Kent, dwarfed by ferries and cargo vessels in the busy shipping lane

A separate incident saw another small boat crowded with passengers, including one man balanced precariously on the bow without a lifejacket

The blue dinghy looked to be struggling to stay above the waves as it made the perilous trip

A Border Force vessel met the migrant dinghies as the crossed into British waters

After plucking them from the waves, Border Force officials were pictured bringing the group ashore brought at Dover