Conservative Party Deputy Chairman Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith have joined a growing rebellion of Tory MPs over the government’s Rwanda bill, calling on the legislation to be ‘beefed up’.
Speaking on GB News, Mr Anderson said:
“This is not a rebellion, this is about making sure that the bill is beefed up a little bit.
“Brendan and I both agree with pretty much 90% of this Rwanda Bill, we just feel that there's a few areas in the bill that could be strengthened to make sure that it's watertight.
“And let's not forget we're less than a year away from a general election and the last thing I want is [Labour] coming in and repealing the Rwanda scheme and opening the borders to 100,000 illegal migrants which they will do if they sign up to any EU deal.
“So this is not all about us rebelling, it is about saying, ‘you know what, most of [the bill] is satisfactory. You just need to beef it up a little bit, close all those loopholes and make sure that people can't come over here and break into our country and use it and use spurious claims. That's all that's what it's about.”
“We’ve signed the amendments because it's vitally important this legislation works. There was a poll out today where I think 55.5% of residents in my Ashfield constituency think that people who are arriving here illegally, on small boats, should be removed straight away.
“I cannot ignore that. I hate it when I see people making these spurious claims, getting legal aid, going round and round making different excuses why they should stop in this country.
“Look, the solution is quite simple to me. If you don't want to go to Rwanda, then don't come to this country. It's that simple.
“And this talking about being sacked and resignations - the most important thing to me is not my role as a deputy chair.
“The most important thing for me is making sure this legislation works and I speak on behalf of the people of Ashfield.
“I don't think it’s strong enough. My argument has been today, and since this bill was introduced, I'm of the mind that nobody who enters this country illegally and I mean, absolutely nobody arriving here on a small boat should be allowed to claim asylum.
“If they're that bothered about going to Rwanda then France is a perfectly safe country, just like the other six or seven countries that they've passed through.
It's as simple as that. Nobody should be allowed to claim asylum who has come here on a small boat – that’s my opinion."
Mr Clarke-Smith said:
“I am representing the Conservative Party, not just the parliamentary party. We have our members and of course we've got our constituencies as well that we represent.
“We've got two days that are coming up to debate this bill. This is incredibly important, which is why you see not just Lee and I, but our colleagues as well, we all have opinions on this bill because we want to make it work. We want to see those planes take off."
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