Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday urged Britain’s unelected upper house of parliament to pass his contentious plan to send migrants to Rwanda, saying it was the will of the people.
The premier was speaking the day after he survived a key test of his leadership by fending off right-wing rebels to win a crunch parliamentary vote on the issue.
Sunak, who became prime minister in October 2022 after winning an internal party contest in the wake of Liz Truss’s short-lived tenure, said the elected House of Commons had supported the legislation with a “very strong majority”.
“I think it’s incumbent on the House of Lords to recognise that, to pass this legislation unamended as quickly as possible so that we can then start getting flights up and running,” he added at a Downing Street press conference.
Sunak said work would keep working on the Rwanda plan even before the upper house voted on the legislation.
“We are intensifying the work on that. Because we are determined to start getting flights off so that we can implement this deterrent.
“My message to the House of Lords would be ‘look at the majority last night’,” adding: “They can see what a priority this is for the country”.
Conservative Party rebels had threatened to kill the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, saying the measures it contained are not strong enough.
But they ultimately backed down and the government won comfortably by 320 votes to 276.
The bill is the British leader’s answer to a UK Supreme Court ruling late last year that deporting asylum seekers to Kigali is illegal under international law.
Sunak has staked his political future on the scheme, as Britain gears up for its next general election later this year with immigration high on the electorate’s list of concerns.
The legislation, if passed in the Lords, will compel judges to treat Rwanda as a safe third country.
It will also give UK ministers powers to disregard sections of international and British human rights legislation.
The result of Wednesday’s vote means Sunak avoids a serious weakening of his authority, as his faction-ridden party desperately needs to claw back support from the main opposition Labour party before the nationwide vote.
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