Sunak calls on the Lords ‘to pass’ the Rwanda Bill as it is an ‘urgent national priority’

On Wednesday evening the Prime Minister managed to get his Rwanda Bill pushed through the Hour of Commons despite Tory rebels.

Rishi Sunak insisted last night that the vote shows the Conservative Party are “completely united” and now under the plan asylum seekers could now be sent to Rwanda.

The Prime Minister has been warned that the Rwanda Bill will face serious opposition from his peers.

Sunak has called on the House of Lords to “do the right thing” and pass the scheme as this is an “urgent national priority.”

At a press conference in Downing Street, Sunak said, “It’s now time for the Lords to pass this Bill. This is an urgent national priority.

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“The treaty with Rwanda is signed and the legislation which deems Rwanda a safe country has been passed unamended in our elected chamber.

“There is now only one question. Will the opposition in the appointed House of Lords try and frustrate the will of the people as expressed by the elected House? Or will they get on board and do the right thing?”

Home Office Minister Chris Philp said he expects the Rwanda scheme to pass through the Lords.

He told the Times Radio, “It’s a pretty short Bill, which means it should be able to get through the House of Lords fairly fast.”

Lord Carlile told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, “We’ve seen in various countries the damage that is done when governments use perceived and often ill-judged political imperatives to place themselves above the courts – this is a step towards totalitarianism and an attitude that the United Kingdom usually deprecates.

“I think you’ll find that many of the lawyers in the House of Lords will say this is a step too far, this is illegitimate interference by politics with the law, on an issue that can be solved in other ways.”