The bill has been criticised by human rights groups and charities for its disregard for domestic and international law.
A Tory minister endured a humiliating interview today when answering questions about the government’s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Rishi Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill, which forms a key part of his plan to stop small boat crossings across the channel, is currently going through a Parliamentary ‘ping-pong’ stage, with the Commons rejecting the Lords’ latest amendments, one of which would have granted a removal exemption for people who had supported the UK’s armed forces overseas.
The bill has faced a number of legal setbacks, after the Supreme Court ruled last year that it could lead to human rights breaches. Sunak has brought forward emergency legislation, in a bid to force the policy through, compelling judges to treat Rwanda as a safe country and giving ministers the powers to disregard sections of the Human Rights Act.
The bill has been criticised by human rights groups and charities for its disregard for domestic and international law.
With flights yet to take off, Tory minister Laura Trott was asked by Sky’s Kay Burley who was going to fly the flights to Rwanda and if Sunak was going to achieve his aim of getting deportation flights off to the east African country by the Spring.
Asked about who will fly the flights, Trott replied: “We are working on operationalising this, but we’re not going to go into details on how we’re going to do that.
“We will be ready for flights to take off in the spring, when the legislation passes.”
Burley then asked her: “When does spring mean to you? We’re cantering towards May now.”
Trott replied: “Well there’s lots of definitions of spring, but we’re hoping to get them up and running as quickly as possible.”
Trott’s claim that there are lots of definitions of Spring was mocked on social media. One user on X called it a ‘car crash answer’ while another added: “Just when you thought you’d heard/seen it all. These Tories are shameless.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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