Rishi Sunak's small boats plan is unlikely to become law for another month as peers frustrate its path through Parliament, senior Government figures have told GB News.
With lawyers expected to challenge attempts to remove a cohort of migrants who have been identified this week, it means that the first flights of migrants might not take off for Kigali until May.
Government whips are expecting seven of peers' attempts to water down the legislation to be returned to the House of Commons tonight by the House of Lords, GB News can disclose.
The Safety of Rwanda Bill will then return to the House of Commons where MPs will be able to vote to over-rule the peers for a second time, possibly early next week.
Rishi Sunak's small boats plan is unlikely to become law for another month as peers frustrate its path through Parliament, senior Government figures have told GB News
PA
Whips privately believe there will be a third round of this 'ping pong' process before the Bill can become law.
One senior source told GB News that the whips are planning for the final stages to be cleared in the first week after the end of MPs' Easter holiday, starting on Monday April 15.
It means that the Rwanda plan will have taken more than two years to become law since it was first unveiled by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022.
Sunak, the Prime Minister, clashed with Sir Keir Starmer over the Rwanda plan at Prime Minister's Questions today, with the Labour leader saying that the deportation flights would only clear “one per cent” of the asylum backlog.
Sunak replied: “Since I became Prime Minister the number of small boat crossings are actually down by over a third.”
Earlier Home secretary James Cleverly issued a last-minute plea to the House of Lords to pass the Rwanda Bill as soon as possible in order to “save lives”.
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Cleverly urged the Upper House not to block the passage of the small boats legislation, telling the Daily Express: “It has always been illogical to argue the Rwanda scheme won’t work while trying everything and anything politically to ensure it can’t.
“The more this Bill progresses, the more worried Labour get that, as we’ve always said, it will work, and the more we’ve anticipated deliberate efforts from Labour to delay, disrupt or sabotage the scheme.
“We remain focused on not letting that happen, and hope their lordships recognise it’s time to let this Bill pass so we can continue to stop the boats, and save lives.”