The government has managed to fight off the latest challenge from the House of Lords seeking to change its Illegal Migration Bill.
In a vote in the Commons, MPs voted to reject all nine amendments peers had put forward to change the legislation.
That was despite some high-profile rebels from the Tory benches supporting the amendments suggested in the Lords – including former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and ex-justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland.
After the vote by MPs, immigration minister Robert Jenrick urged the other House to now drop its amendments to the bill, which aims for the “swift detention and removal” of people arriving in the UK illegally, particularly via Channel crossings.
But Sky News understand peers will push forward with at least four of their proposals when the legislation returns to them later tonight.
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The government has insisted throughout that its proposed new law, including its Rwanda deportation plan, is the best way to “stop the boats” – one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s five priorities.
But the House of Lords has a number of issues with it, especially around the treatment of women, children, people from the LGBT+ community, and victims of modern slavery.
The government offered some concessions last week, such as cutting the length of time lone children and pregnant women could be detained for.
Proposals put forward by peers to change the bill were then largely vetoed during a mammoth voting session.
But the Lords sent nine tweaked versions back to the Commons for another debate and vote – including restrictions on removing LGBT+ people to certain countries and demands for safe and legal routes to be established – which took place this afternoon.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick called the move “disappointing”, claiming many of the peers’ suggestions “simply drive a coach and horses through the fabric of the legislation”.
He told MPs: “There is simply no point in passing [a law] that does not deliver a credible deterrent and provide the means to back it up with effective and swift powers.
“It is time for the clear view of the elected house to prevail… uphold the will of the democratically elected Commons… and to get on with securing our borders and stopping the boats.”
But as the debate rolled on, it was clear the government would face some rebellions from its own backbenchers, as well as opposition MPs.
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Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith focused on the impact of the Illegal Migration Bill on victims of modern slavery – something he and former prime minister Theresa May have been highlighting throughout.
The senior backbencher said: “We want to prosecute those who have been the traffickers – that way we may stop them trafficking people further on the boats.
“My worry here still remains this [bill] will put off many people from giving evidence and cooperating with the police for fear of the fact they may… be sent abroad while doing it.”
The government has refused to budge, saying an amendment to tackle the problem would allow people to claim they were trafficked to the UK the moment they got off a small boat.
But Sir Iain said victims would “live under the fear” they could be booted out of the country if they talked to the police.
Fellow Tory backbencher Tim Loughton also supported the Lords’ amendment, saying “protecting victims and prosecuting traffickers is not undermining the bill… it strengthens the bill”.
But Mr Jenrick said it “only serves to create another loophole which renders the swift removal we seek impossible or impractical”.
MPs voted to reject the proposed amendment from the Lords with a majority of 55, but 13 Tories rebelled: Sir Iain, Mr Loughton, Peter Bone, Sir Peter Bottomley, Sir Robert Buckland, Rehman Chishti, Tracey Crouch, Jackie Doyle-Price, Damian Green, Alicia Kearns, Caroline Nokes, Julian Sturdy and William Wragg.
Separately, 12 Conservatives also rebelled to support the Lords’ call for safe and legal routes for migrants, 11 on unaccompanied children, and five on added protections for LGBT+ people.
‘Performative cruelty’
Labour’s shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said the government’s response to the latest proposals from peers was “typically arrogant and tin-eared” and “ministers are refusing to listen”.
He added: “They are once again closing their eyes and ears to the reality of what is happening around them and continuing to drive the car straight into a brick wall.”
Mr Kinnock urged the government to “come to its senses” in its proposed treatment of asylum seekers and end its “performative cruelty”.
Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael also appealed to the Lords to “stick to its guns” when the bill bounces back to the other House as early as tonight, with only days of parliament left before it goes on its summer break, meaning the bill would fall.
But Tory stalwart Sir John Hayes defended the government, saying: “This bill is about fairness, about affirming the integrity of our nation by defending our borders from those who seek to arrive here illegally.”
He added the legislation was “just and fair” and both MPs and peers opposing it were “denying and detached [from] the popular bill”.