Rishi Sunak has won a crunch vote on his Rwanda deportation policy despite opposition from many MPs.
The Safety of Rwanda Bill was passed at the House of Commons on Tuesday night after a day of talks with potential rebels.
MPs approved the Bill at second reading by 313 votes to 269, giving the UK Government a winning majority of 44.
This opens the way for the Government to implement its plan to deport migrants to the African country while their claims for asylum are processed.
The emergency legislation, introduced after the Supreme Court ruled that the Rwanda proposal is unlawful as written, is designed to prevent migrants who arrive via unauthorised routes from legally challenging being deported to Rwanda.
The Bill seeks to revive the stalled deportation plan by attempting to prohibit legal challenges based on the argument that Rwanda is unsafe.
The Home Office has paid £240 million to Kigali so far, with another payment of £50 million anticipated in 2024/25, but no deportation flights have yet taken off.
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Read more of our coverage on this issue:
- Rishi Sunak's Rwanda plans risks angering Tory right over ECHR powers
- Scottish courts can kill off extremist bill
- Immigration minister Robert Jenrick quits over Sunak's Rwanda plan
Right-wing Tory factions have said they reserved the right to vote against the draft law when it returns to the Commons next year if its contents are not strengthened to ensure asylum seekers can be deported to Rwanda before the next election.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who resigned last week following publication of the Bill, were among the high profile Tories to abstain on Tuesday, despite being issued a three-line whip to vote in support of the Government.
Dozens abstained but no Tory MP voted against the Bill, with former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg among those to back it.
Mr Sunak said the victory in the Commons for the Bill would pave the way for him to deliver his pledge of stopping boats of migrants from crossing the Channel.
After the result, the Prime Minister tweeted: “The British people should decide who gets to come to this country – not criminal gangs or foreign courts. That’s what this Bill delivers.
“We will now work to make it law so that we can get flights going to Rwanda and stop the boats.”
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