Rishi Sunak has rejected Tory criticism of his emergency Rwanda plan, describing it as  "the toughest anti-illegal immigration law ever".

In a hastily organised press conference from No 10, a clearly tetchy Prime Minister denied next Tuesday's debate on the controversial policy would be treated as a confidence vote.

He also said Robert Jenrick — who quit as immigration minister on Wednesday night — was wrong to say the government will fail to keep their promises to bring down the number of people from abroad entering the UK. 

READ MORE: Immigration minister Robert Jenrick quits over Sunak's Rwanda plan

“No, he’s simply not right, actually," the Prime Minister said.

“For the people who say ‘you should do something different’, the difference between them and me is an inch, given everything that we have closed. We’re talking about an inch.

“That inch by the way is the difference between the Rwandans participating in this scheme and not.”

Asked whether he would remove the whip from Tory MPs who voted against the Bill, he said: “No, but what this vote is about is about confidence in Parliament to demonstrate that it gets the British people’s frustration.

“I get it, I’m acting on it. So actually the real question when it comes to all these votes is for the Labour Party, because I want to get this legislation on the statute books as quickly as possible. That’s what we’re all about.

“We’ve moved at record pace since the judgment to get the treaty, to get the Bill introduced, so the question now is for the Labour Party.”

He added: “This is our deterrent, we are doing everything we can to get it on the statute books and get it up and running, so the question for votes in Parliament is what is the Labour Party’s plan and are they going to back this legislation?”

Asked if he would call a general election if he fails to get his Rwanda legislation through Parliament, Mr Sunak said: “I’m going to see this thing through."

He added: “We’ve got to finish the job and I’m going to see this thing through.

“I’m confident I can get this thing done.”

The Tory leader said he was confident the new Bill would work.

“We will get flights off the ground, we will deter illegal migrants from coming in and we will finally stop the boats.”

“The Supreme Court was clear that they were making a judgment about Rwanda at a specific moment 18 months ago, and that the problems could be remedied,” Mr Sunak added.

“Today we are confirming that they have been and that unequivocally Rwanda is a safe country and today’s Bill also ends the merry go round of legal challenges that have blocked our policy for far too long.”

He added that the Bill “blocks every single reason that has ever been used” to prevent flights to Rwanda from taking off apart from the “extremely narrow exception” of someone proving with “credible and compelling evidence” that they “specifically have a real and imminent risk of serious and irreversible harm”.

Read more: Sunak's Rwanda plan risks angering Tory right over human rights powers

Mr Sunak continued: “Once you have been removed, you will be banned for life from travelling to the UK, settling here or becoming a citizen.”

The Prime Minister is coming under pressure from the right of his party, with speculation mounting that he could even face a leadership challenge. 

Asked whether they think the right of the party was willing to push Mr Sunak to the brink, one Tory MP told ITV: "Yes. They're lunatics."