Rishi Sunak's Rwanda plans risks angering Tory right over ECHR powers

The legislation, which must be voted on by Parliament, gives UK ministers the powers to disregard sections of the Human Rights Act.

But it does not go as far as providing powers to dismiss the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as hardliners including Suella Braverman have demanded.

Earlier, Ms Braverman, who was sacked as home secretary, warned the Prime Minister that the Tories face “electoral oblivion in a matter of months” if the revised Rwanda policy is “destined to fail”.

Read more: Braverman: Tories face 'electoral oblivion' over flailing Rwanda plans

In a personal statement to the Commons, the potential Tory leadership rival added that the revised Bill must contain powers to override the European Convention on Human Rights and “all other international law”.

The Prime Minister said the legislation will ensure his flagship asylum scheme “cannot be stopped” as he battles the issue of small boat crossings of the Channel.

Mr Sunak said: “Through this new landmark emergency legislation we will control our borders, deter people taking perilous journeys across the channel and end the continuous legal challenges filling our courts.

“And we will disapply sections of the Human Rights Act from the key parts of the Bill, specifically in the case of Rwanda, to ensure our plan cannot be stopped.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly states on the front page of the legislation, however, that he cannot guarantee that it is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Read more: Tory minister plays down Rwanda rift between Rishi Sunak and Cleverly

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill states that it is the “judgment of Parliament that the Republic of Rwanda is a safe country”.

The Bill says that “every decision-maker” – specifically mentioning the courts – “must conclusively treat the Republic of Rwanda as a safe country”.

It states that ministers will decide whether to ignore interim measures issued by the European Court of Human Rights which have previously scuppered flights.

James Cleverly and Rishi Sunak (Image: PA)

Combined with the new legally binding treaty brokered with Rwanda, the UK Government hopes they can get the policy first announced in April last year off the ground.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Cleverly said the Supreme Court judgment ruled that it is “lawful to relocate illegal migrants” but that the UK Government “cannot yet lawfully remove people to Rwanda”.

He highlighted that the court had concerns that people could “face persecution or ill-treatment”.

But the Home Secretary insisted that “those concerns have been conclusively answered and those changes made” after a treaty was signed with the Rwandan government.

Mr Cleverly said that through “intensive diplomacy”, the UK Government has “created a situation which addresses the concerns”.

He added: “Rwanda is and will remain a safe country for the purposes of asylum and resettlement.”

The Home Secretary said his revised plan “ends the endless merry-go-round of legal challenges” over the policy, adding that “Rwanda will introduce a strengthened end-to-end asylum system”.

But he admitted: “We cannot be confident courts will respect the new treaty on its own.”

Mr Cleverly told the Commons we will introduce emergency legislation that will “prevent the courts of second-guessing parliament’s will” that “Rwanda is a safe country”.

But Labour's shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the new blueprint to resuscitate the Rwanda plan had unleashed "total chaos in the Government and the Conservative party".

She added: "This is the desperate, dying days of a party ripping itself apart - clearly totally out of ideas, lost any sense of leadership or direction.

"They do not deserve to run the country. Britain deserves better than this."

Complying with the demands of Ms Braverman would have left Mr Sunak facing an outcry from his MPs from the more centrist One Nation faction who would accuse him of pandering to the right wing of the party.

They have urged ministers to ensure the country follows rule of law rather than trying to undermine the oversight of the Strasbourg court.

Read more: Tory civil war erupts as UK net migration reaches record high

The SNP's home affairs spokesperson, Alison Thewliss, said: "Just by saying that Rwanda is a safe country does not make it so.

"This is an assault on human rights. We should not let this stand. Human rights and universal and they are for everybody - not who the Home Secretary thinks they should apply to.

“This Bill is a dangerous distraction, it is part of a march towards fascism.”

Rwanda’s foreign affairs minister Vincent Biruta stressed the need for the UK Government’s legislation to comply with international law - raising questions over whether the partner country could put the brakes on it.

He said: “It has always been important to both Rwanda and the UK that our rule of law partnership meets the highest standards of international law, and it places obligations on both the UK and Rwanda to act lawfully.

“Without lawful behaviour by the UK, Rwanda would not be able to continue with the Migration and Economic Development Partnership.”