Rwanda Bill must be strengthened or we’ll kill it off, Tory ‘Spartans’ warn Sunak

Writing for The Telegraph, Danny Kruger, Sir John Hayes and Mark Francois compare themselves to rebels who sank Theresa May’s Brexit deal

The leaders of the three biggest groups on the Conservative Right have united to warn Rishi Sunak that they will vote against him on the Rwanda Bill this week unless he gives ground.
Writing for The Telegraph, Danny Kruger, Sir John Hayes and Mark Francois compared themselves to the Tory “Spartans” who sank Theresa May’s Brexit deal, urging colleagues to join them in “standing firm” against Downing Street “pressure”.
On Tuesday, the Rwanda Bill will return to Parliament for line-by-line scrutiny in its committee stage on the floor of the Commons.
Almost 60 rebels are backing amendments aiming to curb virtually all legal challenges by migrants against deportation to Rwanda and block attempts by Strasbourg judges to halt deportation flights.
The fate of the Bill will rest in large part on the decisions made by MPs in three groups on the Right of the party – the European Research Group, chaired by Mr Francois, the Common Sense Group, chaired by Sir John, and the New Conservatives, co-chaired by Mr Kruger.
The three backbenchers claim that, in its current form, the Bill does not afford ministers the necessary powers to achieve Mr Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats”.
“As the leaders of the three largest groups of Conservative MPs on the conservative wing of the parliamentary party, we have united in recent weeks to express our fear that the Safety of Rwanda Bill fails to do that,” they wrote.
“We have two principal concerns. Firstly, the Bill as currently drafted does not give ministers the express authority to ignore – as a default – the anonymous ‘pyjama injunctions’ of the European Court of Human Rights.
“Second, the continued right of migrants to delay their departure for many months, by making individual claims to UK courts by citing any number of personal circumstances, risks frustrating the entire purpose of the legislation.”
The intervention comes after the first migrant Channel crossing of the year was reported on Saturday, with around 50 people brought to shore in Dover, Kent.
The leaders of the three groups predicted that Number 10 would lean on MPs to “withdraw their support” from amendments put forward by Sir Bill Cash, the veteran backbencher, and Robert Jenrick, the the former immigration minister, which aim to “close these loopholes”.
They said: “We urge our colleagues to stand firmly with and for the British people who, as polling shows, overwhelmingly support robust action to combat illegal migration.”
Firing a shot across Mr Sunak’s bows, they wrote: “Many will recall the moment in 2019 when MPs were asked to swallow Mrs May’s inadequate Brexit deal. We were told then that a failure to accept it would see Brexit abandoned and our party out of power.
“In fact, the Brexit ‘Spartans’ who held firm set off a chain of events that saw Brexit delivered and a historic Conservative election victory. As in 2019, standing firm this week requires courage, for we will face criticism from colleagues that we are letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.
“But the point is that the Bill is simply not good enough in its current form to deliver the outcome we all seek. Failing to deliver for the British people carries a much greater cost than temporary discomfort in Parliament. Standing firm is no more or less than our duty, for it means keeping our promise to those we serve – our constituents.”
Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, has already said she will vote against the “fundamentally flawed” Rwanda Bill if Mr Sunak does not toughen it up.
The Prime Minister would suffer a damaging blow to his authority if a sizeable number of his MPs voted against him, although the crunch would not come until the third reading, when a decision would have to be made as to whether to vote the Bill down in its entirety.
However the Prime Minister gives ground to MPs on the Right, he risks alienating centrist Tories who have said he is already within “an inch” of what they consider acceptable.
Michael Tomlinson, the minister for countering illegal migration, said the Government was still engaging with MPs about their concerns.
“We are confident in our Bill while, of course, we are talking and listening to colleagues to get their views,” he told The Telegraph. “I’m a former deputy chairman of the ERG myself, so I understand my colleagues’ commitment to passing a Bill that works.
“They are not ‘rebels’, they are colleagues – and we want the same thing. We all want effective legislation that will get flights off to Rwanda and to stop the boats. And that’s what this Bill delivers.”
A government spokesman said: “Under this new Bill, migrants will no longer be able to frustrate the decision to remove them to Rwanda by bringing systemic challenges in our courts.
“This Bill also disapplies every single avenue used by individuals to block the first flight to Rwanda, including asylum, modern slavery and human rights claims.”
The British people could not be clearer – as our nation’s borders are crossed with impunity, they expect us to stop the boats. They are right to do so, write Mark Francois, Sir John Hayes and Danny Kruger
Their principal reason for expecting action is not just the unsustainable pressures that the flow of illegal migrants places on public services; neither is it the £8 million a day we are spending on hotels; nor the crime and disorder in local communities; nor the drain on councils’ capacity to provide for residents.
It is that the public expects us to deliver what we promised.
At the beginning of last year, the Prime Minister was clear that his mission was to stop the boats, not reduce them. The promise was unequivocal: to stop the boats.
Our entire Conservative team has worked hard to deliver that mission. In signing a groundbreaking returns deal with Albania, the Prime Minister, Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick eliminated almost entirely one source of the trade. Ministers also negotiated new treaties to limit migration and increase our ability to return migrants home or – where that is not possible – remove them to a safe third country.
Unfortunately, the courts, in applying European law, have not allowed our Government to act in the way that it promised. 
In June 2022, late at night, an anonymous judge of the European Court of Human Rights blocked the first removal flight of Channel migrants to Rwanda, freezing the policy. In November last year, the Supreme Court – applying a swathe of international laws – put the policy on more permanent ice.
In such circumstances, the case for new legislation is obvious. We must secure laws that allow us to break the link between illegally crossing the English Channel and the ability to settle in the UK.
The job of backbench MPs is to legislate, and to scrutinise and amend draft Bills to ensure that they will be effective in meeting the priorities of our constituents.
Our role in meeting the Prime Minister’s mission is to ensure that new legislation passing through Parliament affords Ministers the necessary powers to stop the boats.
As the leaders of the three largest groups of Conservative MPs on the conservative wing of the parliamentary party, we have united in recent weeks to express our fear that the Safety of Rwanda Bill fails to do that.
We have two principal concerns. Firstly, the Bill as currently drafted does not give ministers the express authority to ignore – as a default – the anonymous “pyjama injunctions” of the European Court of Human Rights. 
Without this explicit authority, these contentious orders could permanently frustrate the effectiveness of the system while the policy works its way through the European court.
Second, the continued right of migrants to delay their departure for many months, by making individual claims to UK courts by citing any number of personal circumstances, risks frustrating the entire purpose of the legislation.
The Government acknowledges these are real risks. Our colleagues Sir Bill Cash and Robert Jenrick, who have worked to develop and deliver the Rwanda policy, have tabled amendments that close these loopholes. 
They are backed by the legal opinion of John Larkin KC, thus meeting the Prime Minister’s test that there is a respected legal argument that these amendments comply with international law.
Almost 60 of our colleagues have now signed the amendments. Doubtless pressure will be brought to bear on the MPs to withdraw their support. We urge our colleagues to stand firmly with and for the British people, who as polling shows overwhelmingly support robust action to combat illegal migration.
We collectively opted to abstain on the second reading of the Bill before Christmas, when the Prime Minister promised that he was prepared to see the Bill “tightened” to improve its effectiveness. We took him at his word.
Many will recall the moment in 2019 when MPs were asked to swallow Mrs May’s inadequate Brexit deal. We were told then that a failure to accept it would see Brexit abandoned and our party out of power. In fact, the Brexit “Spartans” who held firm set off a chain of events that saw Brexit delivered and a historic Conservative election victory.
As in 2019, standing firm this week requires courage, for we will face criticism from colleagues that we are letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. 
But, the point is that the Bill is simply not good enough in its current form to deliver the outcome we all seek. Failing to deliver for the British people carries a much greater cost than temporary discomfort in Parliament. Standing firm is no more or less than our duty, for it means keeping our promise to those we serve – our constituents.
Mark Francois is the chairman of the European Research Group, Sir John Hayes is the chairman of the Common Sense Group, and Danny Kruger is the co-chairman of the New Conservatives