Could the House of Lords kill the Rwanda bill?

Rishi Sunak’s controversial ‘stop the boats’ plan faces another hurdle to make it into law – an upper chamber eager to sink its teeth into the legislation, writes Sean O’Grady

Protestors outside the Home Office in Central London last month (AFP/Getty)

The latest Rwanda bill, one of the most bizarre/innovative pieces of governmental legislation ever to try to make its way to the statute book, faces yet more trouble in the House of Lords after a difficult passage through the Commons. The bill cannot become law without the consent of the upper house, and it is by no means clear this will be offered; nor that Rishi Sunak can impose his will, and that of the democratically elected Commons, to make his Rwanda plan effective. Without that, by his own witness, there will be insufficient deterrent for refugees and others to cross the English Channel, and he will not “stop the boats”, as so often promised…

What’s the problem now?

Their lordships are getting their teeth into the bill, and here’s a report by an influential House committee that calls for the British government and the Rwandan government to do much more to show the bill is lawful, and that the objections to its legality as set out in the Supreme Court’s judgment last year, have been clearly answered: “The government should submit further information to parliament in due course to confirm that the necessary legal and practical steps and training identified in this report, which underpin the protections provided for in the treaty, have been put in place and bedded in. It should then allow for a further debate before proceeding to ratification.”