Suella Braverman has unveiled a five-point plan for the Government to follow in order to stop the boats, demanding the Government cancel its Christmas break in order to tackle the "emergency"
Suella Braverman has unveiled a five-point plan for the Government to follow in order to stop the boats, demanding the Government cancel its Christmas break in order to tackle the "emergency".
She warned Rishi Sunak against "tinkering with a failed plan", saying this will not solve the crisis.
The former Home Secretary, who was sacked last week after an unathorised Op-Ed criticising the police, also hit out at "unaccountable" international courts.
Suggesting Sunak should change international law and quit the European Convention on Human Rights, Braverman warned: "There is no longer any chance of stopping the boats within the current legal framework."
She added: "Having committed to emergency legislation, the Prime Minister must now give Parliamentarians a clear choice: to either properly control illegal migration, or explain to the British people why they are powerless under international law and must simply accept ever greater numbers of illegal arrivals on these shores."
Her five point plan, pitched as "five tests", demanded the Government's emergency legislation "address the Supreme Court's concerns regarding Rwanda", advising the Government to take "practical steps to improve Rwanda’s asylum system", rather than just declaring it safe in law.
She also demanded the Bill enables flights to Rwanda to take off ahead of the next election, which will take place before January 2025.
Her third demand, was that "swift removal must mean swift removal", explaining: "Those arriving illegally must be removed in a matter of days rather than months as under the Illegal Migration Act.
"This means amending the Act to ensure that removals to Rwanda are mandated under the duty to remove, with strict time limits."
Braverman's fourth request, is that those arriving in the UK illegally, such as via small boat, "must be detained". She added: "Legal challenges to detention must be excluded to avoid burdening the courts, making it clear that detention is mandated until removal."
Her fifth "test", is a call for the Government to treat the issue as an "emergency".
She demanded: "The Bill should be introduced by Christmas recess and Parliament should be recalled to sit and debate it over the holiday period."
This came after the courts ruled that the plan to send migrants to Rwanda was illegal.
All five justices unanimously agreed with the Court of Appeal’s conclusion that the Rwanda policy was unlawful.
Speaking about the judgement at a press conference after the verdict, Sunak said: “I do not agree with this decision but I respect it and accept it. The rule of law is fundamental to our democracy. We have prepared for all outcomes of this case. And so we have been working on a new international treaty with Rwanda.
“This will provide a guarantee in law that those who are relocated from the UK to Rwanda will be protected against removal from Rwanda and it will make clear that we will bring back anyone if ordered to do so by a court.
“We will finalise this treaty in light of today’s judgment and ratify it without delay.
“But we need to end the merry-go-round. I said I was going to fundamentally change our country, and I meant it. So I’m also announcing today that we will take the extraordinary step of introducing emergency legislation. This will enable Parliament to confirm that with our new treaty, Rwanda is safe.”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Sunak added: “We must be honest about the fact that even once Parliament has changed the law here at home, we could still face challenges from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
“I told Parliament earlier today that I’m prepared to change our laws and revisit those international relationships to remove the obstacles in our way.
“So let me tell everybody now, I will not allow a foreign court to block these flights.
“If the Strasbourg court chooses to intervene against the expressed wishes of Parliament, I am prepared to do what is necessary to get flights off.
“I will not take the easy way out.
“Because I fundamentally do not believe that anyone thinks the founding aims of the European Convention on Human Rights was to stop a sovereign Parliament removing illegal migrants to a country deemed to be safe in parliamentary statute and binding international law.”
