Suella Braverman’s controversial Illegal Migration Bill hits wall of opposition in Lords

Nearly 90 peers were on Wednesday set to speak on Suella Braverman’s Illegal Migration Bill which was set to be shredded in the Lords.

Opponents of the controversial legislation include the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, as well as dozens of Labour, Liberal Democrats, crossbench and possibly some Conservative peers.

The debate at Second Reading was due to start at 11am.

“There’s 87 peers signed up to speak for six minutes each – that shows the depth of concern – the Government has chosen to cram it into one day instead of a sensible two days,” tweeted Green peer Baroness Jenny Jones, a former member of the London Assembly.

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Paddick, a former Met Police commander, is due to propose a “fatal motion” which would kill off the bill, though the move is unlikely to be approved.

Baroness Green added: “Labour will argue (I think) that the Bill must be gutted rather than thrown out. I don’t quite understand the value of that, with such a nasty Bill, but I will listen to their arguments. However, I will vote for the Fatal Motion as *improving* the Bill = tidying a pile of sick.”

However, Ms Braverman and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk are arguing that the Lords should not defy what they describe as the “will of the British people” by torpedoing the legislation.

They told The Times Red Box that the public’s support for “legitimate” refugees is under threat of being undermined by “uncontrolled and illegal” migration.

But peers are set to seek to make a series of amendments to the bill which aims to change the law so people arriving in the UK by “small boats” crossing the Channel will not be able to remain in the country.

They will either be sent back to their home country or to a nation like Rwanda with which the UK has a deal, although legal challenges mean no flights carrying migrants have taken off for Kigali.

Bibby Stockholm, the barge which is to be used by the Home Office to house up to 500 male asylum seekers, arrived in Falmouth on Tuesday (Getty/PA)

Amendments expected to be pushed by peers include opening up more safe routes for asylum seekers to reach Britain and to stop holding child migrants in detention centres.

The Archbishop has criticised the plan to send migrants to Rwanda as “ungodly”.

Peers are unlikely to try to completely block the bill but could delay its passage through Parliament as they seek to force the Government to make changes to it.

One of Rishi Sunak’s five pledges is to pass legislation to “stop the boats”.

Meanwhile, a barge which the Government plans to use to house up to 500 migrants has arrived in Falmouth, Cornwall.

The Bibby Stockholm is expected to be moved into position at the Portland of Port in Dorset in the next few weeks, after undergoing checks.

Thousands of migrants have already crossed the Channel this year in “small boats”, with the Home Office facing severe criticism for delays in dealing with asylum applications.