Watch: Rishi Sunak urges parliament to back Rwanda bill ahead of final vote

Watch as Rishi Sunak held a press conference to urge peers to back his controversial Rwanda legislation on Monday, 22 April.

The prime minister's surprise speech came ahead of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill’s final showdown in parliament.

Mr Sunak's legislation is aimed at making the plan to send asylum seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda legally watertight.

The bill is intended to overcome the objections of the Supreme Court by forcing judges to regard Rwanda as a safe country for asylum seekers and allowing ministers to ignore emergency injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights.

However, it has been subject to extensive parliamentary back-and-forth, with peers repeatedly blocking the bill with a series of amendments.

The government has vowed Parliament will sit late into Monday night if necessary to pass the bill, which it sees as vital to the prime minister’s pledge to “stop the boats”.