THE SNP will today try to kill off what it calls the Tory Government’s “hateful anti-refugee Bill” as it returns to the Commons for its next parliamentary hurdle.

The Nationalists have tabled a reasoned amendment which, if passed, would deny the Nationality and Borders Bill a second reading on the grounds it breaches the 60-year-old UN convention on the status of refugees.

The move, while unlikely to succeed, is designed to call into question the entire legislation, which critics say will criminalise people fleeing their homes in search of refuge in the UK.

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The SNP say the Bill will strip many refugees of rights to family reunion, support and permanent settlement, and criminalise some with sentences of up to four years.

Meanwhile Home Secretary Priti Patel, who is promoting the Bill, will today attempt to deflect criticism by highlighting new measures to help the vulnerable in collaboration with the UN refugee agency (UNCHR).

Ms Patel will unveil plans to give resettled refugees indefiinte leave to remain as soon as they arrive from October, not the current five years.

There will also be a trail of aemergency mechanism to settle refugees rapidly in “exceptional circumstances”, with the UNHCR identifying candidates, such as those needing urgent medical care or people facing return to a country where their lives would be at risk.

Ms Patel said the Government’s plans were a “firm but fair” way to fix a “broken asylum system”, which would now be based on need, not the ability to pay people smugglers.

She said priority would be given to the most vulnerable, not those who could have claimed asylum in another country en route to the UK.

She is expected to tell the Commons: “The British people have always been generous to refugees. This is a source of great national pride and will never change.

“Since 2015, more than 25,000 refugees have been resettled in the UK from regions of conflict – more than any other European country. We have also enabled more than 29,000 close relatives of refugees to join them in the UK in the last five years.

“Part of our firm but fair approach is to strengthen the safe and legal ways in which people can enter the UK, including through the UK Resettlement Scheme, which started in February. This country does right by those in need.”

Cumbernauld MP Stuart McDonald, the SNP’s home affairs spokesperson, said: “The Tory government’s Nationality and Borders Bill is nothing more than a hateful anti-refugee Bill that breaches the UK’s international obligations - it must be condemned in the strongest possible manner.

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“If a Uighur fleeing torture; or Syrian fleeing war crimes; or Christian convert escaping death threats arrives in the UK seeking protection, but without a visa, they could be guilty of an offence punishable by up to 4 years in prison if this Bill goes through.

“MPs and charities alike have expressed serious concerns about the Bill, but the Tories have ignored them and are ploughing ahead with it anyway.

“I have tabled an amendment that attempts to stop the Bill in its tracks and my SNP colleagues and I will continue to work to stop this Bill becoming law.”