The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunakhas once again saved a crucial vote in Parliament in its objective of shielding deportations to Rwanda of immigrants arriving at United Kingdom irregularly. This Wednesday, the British Prime Minister achieved, with less tension than in the first vote last December, sufficient support from his party for the processing of the Rwanda security bill, which seeks to prevent new judicial blocks on deportations. . The text has, however, had a significant opposition from the hardline of his partywhich has tried without success to incorporate amendments to toughen the rule and offer greater guarantees that the plan will be carried out.
They have finally been 11 rebel deputies who have joined the opposition and have voted against the bill in the general vote – 18 less than necessary to overturn the norm –, among whom are the two most responsible for the Government’s immigration policy until recently : the former Minister of the Interior, Suella Bravermanand the former Secretary of State for Immigration, Robert Jenrickwho resigned shortly after the Executive presented the bill in Parliament in protest.
The amendments tabled by Jenrick and veteran congressman Bill Cash – and supported by nearly 60 conservative deputies– contemplated limiting the cases in which immigrants can appeal to the courts and incorporating new clauses to avoid possible rulings by the European Court of Human Rights that intend to paralyze deportations again, as already happened in June 2022. The representatives of the hard wing of the party have insisted that any precautionary measure issued by international courts represents an interference in the UK sovereignty and on Parliament’s ability to enact laws, but despite their reservations about the bill’s ability to avoid new legal battles, a score of wayward deputies have chosen to refrain and facilitate its approval.
Last chance
Among the deputies who have finally chosen to abstain is Lee Anderson, one of the two senior Conservative Party officials who resigned this Tuesday in order to vote in favor of the amendments. The abstentionists have decided bury the hatchetaware that this is the last opportunity for the Government to launch the deportations before the general elections and that opening a leadership crisis in the party at this point would end its few options to come back in a few surveys that still place them away from the Labor Party.
But Sunak still has a long way to go before the first flights to Kigali take off. The norm now has to pass through the House of Lordswhose members are much stricter in complying with the international human rights conventions and they may put new obstacles in its processing. Once definitively approved, the Government will cross its fingers to be able to launch the deportations without new impediments and fulfill one of its main promises: that of end the irregular arrival of immigrants across the English Channel. A promise that the Tories know they must fulfill to regain the trust of voters who gave them an absolute majority just over four years ago.
Deterrent power
Related news
It is not yet clear, however, whether the deportation plans to Rwanda will serve as deterrent for immigrants, as the Executive promises. Both human rights organizations and the majority of opposition deputies assure that, even if the deportations begin before the elections, the measure will not stop thousands of people willing to risk their lives, and a large part of their savings, to leave their countries of origin. Those most critical of the plan point out that the total number of immigrants deported to the African country – with the capacity to accommodate nearly a thousand – will only represent a small part of the total of irregular arrivals to the United Kingdom.
Added to this are the criticism of the Labor Party due to the high costs of the plan, which by now have already exceeded 400 million euros without a single deportation having occurred. “This plan is unaffordable, unviable and illegal,” said Labor MP Stephen Kinnock in the debate on the amendments. Labor has already confirmed its intention to end deportations to Rwanda if it wins the elections, scheduled for autumn of this year.