Rishi Sunak was told to ignore the law and “get the planes in the air” by the deputy chairman of the Conservative party as he faced a furious backlash from Tory MPs over his failed bid to deport migrants to Rwanda.
As the prime minister came under increasing pressure from within his own ranks, senior Tories warned the court ruling was a challenge to “who governs Britain”.
One former cabinet minister also suggested he could submit a letter of no confidence in Mr Sunak’s leadership after his flagship small boats policy was declared unlawful.
In response, the Tory leader told MPs the government was working on a “new treaty” with Rwanda – and he was prepared to change the law. He added: “The British people expect us to do whatever it takes to stop the boats and that is precisely what this Government will deliver.”
In an extraordinary move that will be seen as a challenge to Mr Sunak’s authority, Tory party deputy chair Lee Anderson called for the government to “get the planes in the air and send illegal immigrants to Rwanda” despite the Supreme Court ruling.
Opening a rift with his party leader, he said: “We should ignore the law”.
“I’ve said it from day one, when you get to this country on a boat you are breaking the law, you are breaking into this country.”
Former cabinet minister Simon Clarke also suggested he could submit a letter of no confidence over Rwanda.
He said the PM’s response to the ruling was now a “confidence issue in his judgement as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party”. He also called for emergency legislation in the House of Commons.
Another leading member of the New Conservatives, a grouping on the right of the party, Miriam Cates refused to say she had confidence in the PM.
She warned: “This is an incredibly significant moment, equally as significant as any moment during the Brexit wrangling, because this judgement shows that the British parliament does not run Britain.”
Another member of the group Danny Kruger said the Supreme Court judgement felt “existential for our party”.
He said: “We promised to stop the boats, we promised to take back control of our borders, what we have seen today is the court overriding that sovereign decision of the British people.”
He added: “If this government will not step up and do whatever it takes as the prime minister has promised he will, there is no reason for the public to trust us again.”
“We absolutely have to respond to this in the most robust way possible, and genuinely insist on the sovereignty of this country over its borders,” Mr Kruger added.
Boris Johnson waded into the row, calling for parliament to legally deem Rwanda a safe country to force through the government’s deportation scheme.
The former prime minister shared an article from June in which he argues for “radical action” to “get Rwanda done”.
The Daily Mail column said: “As the judgment points out, the Government has the power, under Schedule 3 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004, to ask Parliament to deem Rwanda a safe country. That has not so far been done and it should now be done — immediately.”
Writing on X after the ruling, Mr Johnson said: “If you want to know what the government of 2019 -2022 would have done, here is your answer. It’s the only way.”
