A defiant Rishi Sunak has vowed to change the law and do “whatever it takes” to stop small boats crossing the channel, just hours after the Supreme Court ruled his Rwanda deportation plan is unlawful.
Facing MPs at PMQs he said he was prepared to “revisit domestic legal frameworks” and “international relationships” if they continue to “frustrate” plans to deport asylum seekers.
“The British people expect us to do whatever it takes to stop the boats. And that is precisely what this government will deliver,” Mr Sunak said.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the prime minister should apologise to the country for blowing £140m on the failed scheme and “wasting his entire time in office”.
“He has wasted all of his time on a gimmick and now he is absolutely nowhere,” the Labour leader said.
However the prime minister responded that “this government has done more to tackle illegal migration than any in the past”.
It comes after justices at the UK’s highest court ruled Mr Sunak’s Rwanda deportation plan was unlawful and that flights will not be able to go ahead, in a blow to the prime minister’s key pledge to cut immigration to the UK.
‘My duty to do it for other people’
One of the asylum seekers that the government tried to send to Rwanda in June 2022 has told The Independent that he “was so happy” at the news that their deportation plans had failed, Holly Bancroft reports.
He called on Rishi Sunak’s government to process his asylum claim and those of other migrants who he said are “living in limbo” waiting on their decisions.
He was in the Supreme Court, along with charity Care4Calais, when the decision was announced and he said he could tell by the body language of those around him that his claim against the government had succeeded. Speaking through a translator, he said he was “proud” to be part of the legal action against the government and “it was my duty to do it for all the other people”.
“Most of the people seeking asylum are the same, they are fleeing persecution and war. They just want a peaceful life and I feel like I have a duty to fight for those people. I didn’t feel scared challenging the government. I have lived in war before and I feel proud to do this,” he said.
He added: “I was inside the court among the legal team. The moment I heard the decision I was shocked. I realised the decision because the people around me were very happy and I might have cried but it’s hard to remember. Even now, I’m still not 100 per cent absorbing what has happened.”
Tory MPs calling for ‘notwithstanding’ legislation are ‘living in a fantasy world’ – Grieve
Tory MPs who think the government can press ahead with the Rwanda plan by applying “notwithstanding” legislation are “living in a fantasy world”, a former attorney general has said.
Dominic Grieve, the former Tory MP who served as attorney general under David Cameron, said the UK can not “simply override its international obligations whenever it suits it without consequence.”
“You can do it, but it is equivalent to breaching our ECHR obligations,” he told Bloomberg after the Supreme Court ruled that the government plan to deport asylum seekers and migrants to Rwanda was unlawful, adding any such move would end up in the courts in Europe.
When the Supreme Court handed down its ruling earlier one of its five judges, Lord Reed, pointed out that the UK’s obligations on asylum seekers stretched well beyond the ECHR to the United Nations.
Government should withdraw from ECHR and apply ‘notwithstanding’ legislation – Braverman ally
Sir John Hayes, a close ally of Suella Braverman, said the UK government should withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and apply “notwithstanding” legislation to allow asylum seekers to be deported.
The Conservative MP told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “The court judgment does draw on the ECHR but not the ECHR alone.
“We need to withdraw from that because it has metamorphosised. In its genesis, those who put together the European framework in the wake of the Second World War rightly took the view that international co-operation was necessary to avoid the horrors that we experienced in the 20th century.
“But it has metamorphosised, it has become a means of defending all kinds of horrors, so, yes, we do need to withdraw.
“In the short-term, a simpler process would be to have a piece of legislation that says, notwithstanding the obligations described, notwithstanding some of the things the court drew on today, that we will effect our policy.
“I hope that is what will be brought forward. It is what some people have described as a ‘Plan B’.”
File photo: Sir John Hayes
” height=”1643″ width=”2465″ layout=”responsive” i-amphtml-layout=”responsive”>
File photo: Sir John Hayes
Stephen Flynn calls for MPs to have ‘free vote’ on Israel-Hamas ceasefire
Sunak: ‘Disappointed but committed to making Rwanda plan work’
Rishi Sunak has spoken to Rwandan president Paul Kagama to express his “disappointment” at the Supreme Court’s judgment.
A readout of the pair’s call said: “[Mr Sunak] thanked President Kagame for his Government’s work over the last 15 months and the extra assurances we have already agreed as they said they would continue to work together to address the Court’s concerns.
“Both leaders reiterated their firm commitment to making our migration partnership work and agreed to take the necessary steps to ensure this is a robust and lawful policy and to stop the boats as soon as possible.”
Starmer faces tricky afternoon over Gaza ceasefire vote
Sir Keir Starmer is facing a tricky afternoon as it appears a number of Labour MPs are set to defy him and back calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The SNP has tabled an amendment to the King’s Speech calling for a ceasefire which could be selected for a vote by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Sienna Rodgers, a senior writer at the House Mag, tweeted that the “ceasefire amendment has 50+ Labour rebels – including more than a dozen frontbenchers.”
Labour MPs have been ordered to abstain on the SNP move and have instead been told to back Sir Keir’s position calling for longer “humanitarian pauses” rather than a ceasefire.
Labour frontbenchers who rebel to back a rival amendment would normally face the sack for breaking the party whip.
James Cleverly: Some asylum seekers lie about their sexuality
James Cleverly has said some asylum seekers lie about their sexuality to claim asylum, telling MPs that “bad people hide amongst good people”.
“Sometimes people lie to take advantage of the goodwill of others,” the new home secretary added.
Mr Cleverly was asked whether he stands by comments by his predecessor Suella Braverman, who said: “They come to the UK, they purport to be homosexual in the effort to get in our system in the effort to get special treatment.”
Ms Braverman did not provide evidence for the claim, and asked whether he had evidence to back it up, Mr Cleverly said: “You can’t prove a negative it’s it’s that’s a fallacy.”
The new home secretary said he has pursued the rights of LGBT people around the world.
Priti Patel: Rwanda plan is integral to stopping people smuggling
Priti Patel has called for the government to “take every necessary step” to ensure the Rwanda deportation plan is delivered.
The former home secretary said the plan is “integral to making sure we can break the model” of people smuggling gangs.
Ms Patel said there are “practical measures” ministers can take working with the Rwandan government to enact the plan.
She added: “Can I please urge the home secretary to take every necessary step and measure to work with the government of Rwanda on the practical and operational delivery of this policy?
“Because this partnership is absolutely integral to making sure that we can break that model, stopping the evil trade of people smuggling.”
James Cleverly ‘struck’ by Supreme Court remarks over Rwanda ruling
Theresa May: ‘Supreme Court judgment was not contingent on the ECHR’
Theresa May has said the Supreme Court judgment was “not contingent on the ECHR”, in a warning to Tory MPs urging Rishi Sunak to pull out of the human rights convention.
The former prime minister asked home secretary James Cleverly to confirm the fact.
Mr Cleverly said Ms May was making “an incredibly important point”.
