Sacked home secretary Suella Braverman has launched a fresh attack on Rishi Sunak and said his plan to revive the Rwanda deportation scheme will fail unless he implements her five-point plan.
Mrs Braverman, who was sacked in a reshuffle this week, said Mr Sunak’s “tinkering” of the plans to overcome the Supreme Court’s verdict that it was unlawful would “culminate in yet another defeat” for the government.
Writing in The Telegraph, she said the prime minister’s proposals would likely get bogged down in the domestic and European court system.
She has proposed introducing emergency legislation to amend the Illegal Migration Act that should meet five key tests. We take a look at those points below:
Address concerns raised by the Supreme Court about Rwanda’s asylum system
Ms Braverman said the government must tackle the issues raised by the five senior judges about Rwanda’s asylum and legal system. It can do this by “embedding UK observers and independent reviewers of asylum decisions”.
These commitments should then be “embodied in an amended memorandum or a new treaty” which would ensure that “Rwanda’s safety could be credibly confirmed”.
Flights must take off before the next general election
The former home secretary said that any amendments must exclude “all avenues of legal challenge”.
Any of the UK’s domestic or international obligations – for example, the European Convention on Human Rights – need to be made invalid using “notwithstanding clauses”. Common law challenges or Judicial Review must also be “expressly excluded”.
She added: “Individuals would, however, be given the chance to demonstrate that they had entered the country legally, were under 18, or were medically unfit to fly – but Home Office decisions on these claims could not be challenged in court.”
Suella Braverman has outlined a five point plan to revive the Rwanda deportation scheme (Joe Giddens/PA)
Removal of migrants must be fast
Ms Braverman said those who arrive on small boats across the channel should be removed “in a matter of days rather than months”.
This means that migrants due to be moved to Rwanda are mandated “under the duty to remove, with strict time limits” which will have the benefit of streamlining the process for the Home Office.
Exclude legal challenges to detention
Ms Braverman said that “any legal challenges to detention must be excluded to avoid burdening the courts, making it clear that detention is mandated until removal.”
Getting the Rwanda deportation scheme running should be considered an emergency
The MP for Fareham said any changes “should be introduced by Christmas recess and parliament should be recalled to sit and debate it over the holiday period.”
