Summary

  • Rishi Sunak defends his Rwanda bill as "the right approach" as pressure mounts within the Tory party and a minister quits

  • The PM says the bill is the "toughest immigration law ever" and insists it will successfully prevent further legal challenges stopping flights taking off to the East African country

  • But he admits that the European Court of Human Rights will still be able to challenge asylum seeker deportations

  • Robert Jenrick earlier quit as immigration minister over the new law, saying it wasn't tough enough

  • Ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman echoed his criticism and said it would not effectively stop Channel crossings

  • But Sunak says going any further will risk sinking the policy altogether

  • The PM also confirmed that the Commons vote on the Rwanda bill next week will not be treated as a confidence vote in his government

  • Aside from the draft law, the government has also signed a new treaty with Rwanda to try to get the policy implemented

  • The Supreme Court blocked the plan last month, saying Rwanda was not safe and could return refugees to the countries they fled

Live Reporting

Edited by Rob Corp

  1. Cleverly: Jenrick has been 'instrumental' in Rwanda plans

    Foreign Secretary James Cleverly (left) and Minister of State at the Home Office Robert Jenrick leaving 10 Downing StreePA Media

    More now from the Commons, where a short while ago, Home Secretary James Cleverly confirmed to MPs that Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has resigned.

    Asked by Sir Christopher Chope, the Tory MP for Christchurch, if he would pay tribute to Jenrick, Cleverly says the now former minister “has done huge amounts of work” on the Rwanda plans and other areas “that have driven down small boat arrivals by a third”.

    “The work that he has done has been instrumental - absolutely instrumental,” he adds.

    Cleverly says he has “no doubt” that the whole of government will work to “break the business model of people smugglers and to prevent people being abused by them in an attempt to come and live in the UK”.

  2. Lib Dems say Sunak has 'lost control of party'

    The Liberal Democrats point to Robert Jenrick's resignation as evidence that Rishi Sunak "is no longer in control of his party and has lost the support of the country."

    "This is yet more Conservative chaos as another minister flees this sinking ship of a government," Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said in a statement.

    He adds that the PM "knows that his Rwanda plan is totally unworkable, immoral and a complete waste of taxpayers' money."

    Carmichael says it's time the government "scrapped" its plan and "focused on fixing the broken asylum system instead of fighting amongst themselves".

  3. What is the Rwanda asylum plan?

    Under the five-year trial - first announced in April 2022 - some asylum seekers arriving in the UK would be sent to Rwanda for processing.

    On arrival, they could be granted refugee status and allowed to stay. If not, they could apply to settle there on other grounds, or seek asylum in another "safe third country".

    The government said that "anyone entering the UK illegally" after 1 January 2022 could be sent there, with no limit on numbers.

    The UK has already paid the Rwandan government £140m, but no asylum seeker has actually been sent there.

    The first flight was scheduled to go in June 2022, but was cancelled after legal challenges.

    You can read our explainer about the plan here.

  4. Jenrick says small boats crisis a 'national emergency'

    Robert Jenrick outside Downing StreetEPA

    Jenrick, pictured here outside Downing Street in November, says the proposed bill is "a triumph of hope over experience"

    We can bring you more now from Jenrick's resignation letter to the Prime Minister.

    In it, he says he has been "pushing for the strongest piece of emergency legislation" to ensure that under the Rwanda policy the government can stop as many small boats arriving to Britain "as swiftly as possible".

    He writes that the small boats crisis is a "national emergency" that is doing "untold damage to our country".

    He says he is unable to take the proposed emergency legislation through the Commons as he does "not believe it provides us with the best possible chance for success".

    His letter continues: "A bill of the kind you are proposing is a triumph of hope over experience. The stakes for the country are too high for us not to pursue the stronger protections required to end the merry-go-round of legal challenges which risk paralysing the scheme and negating its intended deterrent."

  5. I cannot continue when I have such strong disagreements - Jenrick

    We've just heard from Robert Jenrick, following news of his resignation

    In a post on X, he shared his resignation letter and wrote: "It is with great sadness that I have written to the Prime Minister to tender my resignation as minister for immigration.

    "I cannot continue in my position when I have such strong disagreements with the direction of the government’s policy on immigration", he wrote.

  6. Cleverly confirms Jenrick resignation

    Chris Mason
    Political editor

    Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has resigned, the Home Secretary told the Commons.

    James Cleverly told MPs the resignation of his colleague "has been confirmed" after a third home office minister, Laura Farris, appeared to say the same in a live radio interview.

    For the last few hours neither Jenrick himself nor Downing Street have responded to enquiries about the Newark MP's future.

  7. Robert Jenrick resigns as immigration minister

    Heather Sharp
    Live reporter

    Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of the news that Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has resigned.

    The move comes after the government published emergency legislation aimed at enabling its Rwanda asylum policy to go ahead.

    Home Secretary James Cleverly has been speaking about the policy in the House of Commons, with Jenrick notably absent, and rumours swirling that he had stepped down.

    Then - after repeated questioning from MPs about the reported resignation, Cleverly said "that has been confirmed".

    Ministers say the draft law will prevent further legal challenges to deportation flights, after the UK Supreme Court ruled last month that the scheme was unlawful.

    But it does not go as far as some on the Tory right were demanding

    Stay with us as we bring you live updates and analysis.