Paul Seddon
Politics reporter

The government’s Rwanda bill is currently stuck in a process known as ping-pong, with the House of Commons and House of Lords at loggerheads over the final wording.

Peers are still holding out for two amendments: on getting an expert committee to sign Rwanda off as safe, and deportation exemptions for those who previously helped UK armed forces.

If the Lords backed exactly the same amendments again tonight, then in theory the entire bill could fall, under a rule known as “double insistence”.

But it is much more likely that the peers behind the proposed changes will tweak the wording, so this doesn’t happen.

In principle, this means ping-pong can continue indefinitely.

This bill has seen a lot of back and forth because the government hasn’t been prepared to compromise and the Lords have so far refused to back down.

Normally, the unelected Lords generally give in after two or three rounds of opposition on the same issues.

The Parliament Act – which is used very rarely - gives the government a way to bypass opposition in the Lords. But it can’t be used for this bill, because not enough time is left before the general election.

Airlines and aviation regulators could be complicit in breaching human rights if they facilitate unlawful removals to Rwanda, even if the bill is passed, according to UN independent human rights experts.

They said that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda - or any country where they'd be at risk of being returned to a country where they could face persecution - would violate their rights.

Airlines and aviation authorities must be "held responsible" if they implement government decisions that violate human rights, the UN experts said in a statement., external

Will missing the spring flights deadline hurt Sunak?published at 14:55 British Summer Time 22 April

14:55 BST 22 April

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

One of the main headlines from the press conference earlier was Rishi Sunak’s suggestion that flights will take off in 10-12 weeks.

That means he will break his promise of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda in the spring.

The prime minister's argument this morning was “it’s important that we do this properly”.

He told the press conference: “This isn’t just about one flight. Could you rush and get one flight off? Maybe you could. But that’s not the priority.

“The priority is being able to deliver a regular rhythm – a drumbeat – of multiple flights a month over the summer and beyond because that’s how you build a systematic deterrent.”

Image source, PA Media

So does it matter that the prime minister has broken his pledge to get flights off in the spring?

Well, during that press conference, Sunak stood at a lectern with a very simple slogan attached: “Stop the boats.”

If that happens, and the small boats carrying migrants across the Channel do stop, voters might be willing to forgive the timetable slipping - but it’s a high bar.

If migrants continue to cross the Channel, even in reduced numbers, he will face more difficult questions about what has become one of his central policies.

Calculating the true cost of the government’s Rwanda plan is no simple feat.

Under the scheme, the Home Office has agreed to pay money into a economic development fund for Rwanda, as well as providing extra payments to cover the cost of processing and relocating individuals there.

According to the National Audit Office (NAO), the UK has already paid £220m towards this fund - projected to reach £370m over the next five years.

There are further projected charges – which can be found in the full report, external.

And it doesn't stop there. The increase in people claiming asylum - and the backlog of unprocessed claims - has increased demand for temporary accommodation.

According to Home Office figures, the UK's asylum system costs nearly £4bn a year, including about £8m a day on hotel accommodation.

Subsequent estimates from the NAO say alternative plans - including the Bibby Stockholm barge - could be £46m more than the estimated cost of hotels, costing £1.2bn over the next decade.

Callum May
BBC News

After new figures showed a growing backlog of asylum cases that the Home Office is prevented by law from processing in the UK, one charity says the total number of cases is likely to top 100,000 by the end of the year.

The number is included in analysis by the Refugee Council which is published later this week.

Refugee Council CEO Enver Solomon said: “Tens of thousands of men, women and children will be stranded in the UK indefinitely, shut out from the asylum system, unable to work, unable to be returned to their own country, and in need of indefinite support.

We've been getting lots of reaction from parties and campaigners across the political spectrum to Rishi Sunak's announcement that the first flights deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda will take off in 10 to 12 weeks.

• Labour said Sunak was "always looking for someone else to blame" after the PM blamed its peers for delays. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said a Labour government would use the money from the "extortionate scheme" for border security and tackling smuggling gangs
• Conservative MP Tim Loughton said a "hard core led by Labour in the House of Lords" was holding up the legislation without offering a "credible alternative"

• Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey described the announcement as sound bites and spin, calling the scheme "a colossal failure"
• Nigel Farage, honorary president of Reform UK, called the plan "another con job from the Tories", and said he thought it would be blocked again by the courts
• Conservative backbencher Nick Fletcher said he was prepared for a "long night" in the Commons to push the bill through, and added "we shall prevail" and stop the boats

• The Refugee Council - a group which works with asylum seekers - said the Rwanda scheme would "compound the chaos within our asylum system, all at an exorbitant cost to taxpayers"
• The Green Party said the scheme was "cruel, expensive and in breach of international law", and called for safe, legal asylum routes

Conservative MP Tim Loughton tells BBC Radio 4's World At One programme that he has a "sleeping bag ready" for the prolonged stand-off between the Lords and the Commons this afternoon.

Both Houses of Parliament are scheduled to sit late into the night to consider the amendments to the bill.

Loughton describes "a hard core led by Labour" in the Lords that is "trying to frustrate" the Rwanda plans without a "credible alternative".

Further time has been set aside on 23 April if necessary.

Image source, Getty Images

With so much back and forth, you'd be forgiven for not knowing exactly what is being voted on in Parliament.

First of all, the vote is not about whether the government can or cannot send illegal migrants to "a safe third country".

This has already been approved by MPs and included as a measure in the Illegal Migration Act 2023, signed into law in July last year, external.

Tonight's votes in Parliament are about the specific plan to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda - which has faced several legal challenges.

These challenges culminated in November 2023, with the UK Supreme Court ruling unanimously that the scheme was unlawful, saying asylum seekers were at risk of human rights breaches.

And so, the Safety of Rwanda Bill, external was introduced.

It is this bill - which seeks to set out in UK law that Rwanda is deemed to be a safe country - that the House of Commons and House of Lords will consider today.

If passed, the government says the courts could not consider arguments, external against removal based solely on the general safety of Rwanda.

Not all the asylum backlog has been clearedpublished at 13:43 British Summer Time 22 April

13:43 BST 22 April

In a press conference this morning, Rishi Sunak said: “The asylum backlog, which I said we would clear – we’ve cleared it.”

But he’s not talking about all of the people awaiting decisions on their applications for asylum.

He’s talking about the so-called “legacy backlog” – defined by the government as claims, waiting for an initial decision, made before 28 June 2022.

It pledged to clear this by the end of 2023 and said it did this – although the latest figures, external show that on 14 April there were still 2,377 awaiting an initial decision.

But there is also the wider backlog, with 80,777 applications made after 28 June 2022 still awaiting a decision.

• Click here to read more about the legacy backlog

Speaking to broadcasters earlier, Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said Rishi Sunak could have passed the Rwanda plan through Parliament much sooner, but "always looks for someone else to blame".

She said the Rwanda bill was "costing the taxpayer half-a-billion pounds" for a scheme which only covered "1% of asylum seekers".

Labour's solution to illegal channel crossings is to use the money to boost border security with "a new cross-border police and new counter-terror-style powers", she added.

Why hasn't parliamentary ping pong happened sooner?published at 13:19 British Summer Time 22 April

13:19 BST 22 April

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

Well, there was some interesting detail in the prime minister's press conference about the timings and operational arrangements the government has been working on.

Rishi Sunak said:

• the first flight carrying asylum seekers to Rwanda would leave in 10-12 weeks
• an airfield was on standby
• charter flights had been booked to take asylum seekers on the one-way trip to Rwanda
• extra caseworkers, courtrooms and judges were available to hear any legal cases

Sunak said it was "one of the most complex operational endeavours" the Home Office had carried out.

Labour argue the reason for the delay is because those details of the plan weren’t ready until now. A Home Office source I spoke to denied this.

But the outcome is flights will take off - at best - much later than Rishi Sunak initially wanted.

Why is the Rwanda bill taking so long to pass?published at 13:12 British Summer Time 22 April

13:12 BST 22 April

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

The prime minister was keen to put the blame at Labour’s door.

He said his patience had "run thin", adding: “The first flight in 10 to 12 weeks and, as I said, later than we would have liked but you can see the delays that we've been subjected to thanks to the Labour Party.”

But a couple of important caveats.

Firstly, as well as Labour peers, a significant portion of the opposition to the bill in the House of Lords has been from independent - or cross-bench - peers who are not party affiliated. And even a handful of Conservative peers have spoken against it.

Secondly, the government could have pushed through the bill quicker than they have.

Ministers could have rushed through ping pong before MPs went off on their three week Easter break. And they could even have pushed the Lords to sit all night last week.

If you're just joining us, Rishi Sunak earlier gave a news conference on the government's flagship immigration policy - which aims to send some asylum seekers who arrive in the UK via small boats on a one-way ticket to Rwanda.

• The prime minister said the first flights taking some asylum seekers to Rwanda would leave in 10 to 12 weeks, with an airfield "on standby" and commercial charter planes booked
• That amounts to a delay from Sunak's earlier commitment of flights leaving in the spring - and comes more than two years since the policy was first announced by Boris Johnson
• Sunak did not give details on the number of people who would be sent to Rwanda, but said there would be "multiple flights a month through the summer and beyond”
• With further opposition expected in the Lords, Sunak said he is prepared to push the Safety of Rwanda through Parliament today "no matter how late it goes"
• He blamed Labour for holding up the bill's progress, and sought to set out a clear dividing line ahead of the next election, saying only the Conservatives would deliver on the policy
• He also insisted his government is complying with international obligations - and said “no foreign court will stop us from getting flights off"

Attention now turns to both Houses of Parliament, with the possibility of a late night if the House of Lords continues to try to amend the bill. Stay with us for the latest updates and analysis.

After his statement, Rishi Sunak was asked by the BBC's Chris Mason if the plan for Rwanda flights would be a deterrent.

Sunak said plans were in place and he would deliver "a regular rhythm, a drumbeat of multiple flights a month". He also blamed the opposition for holding up the scheme.

Andrew Harding
Reporting from Calais, northern France

Sitting outside a makeshift tent in a wood near Calais, a group of young Sudanese men peered at map of Africa on a mobile phone.

“Rwanda? No,” said one of the men, firmly.

In recent days, several would-be migrants from Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan and Vietnam – gathering near the French coast – have all told the BBC the prospect of being sent from Britain to Rwanda would not deter them from seeking to cross the Channel in a small boat. At least not yet.

“I don’t worry. This is my last chance,” said a 24-year-old man from Afghanistan who said he’d recently been denied asylum in Belgium and felt he had no option but to attempt the crossing.

He stood with dozens of other young men in a patch of wasteland near Calais’s main hospital.

“Nothing can stop me,” said a Sudanese student from Khartoum, who said that if he ended up in Rwanda, he would simply leave and return to France to make another attempt to join relatives already in the UK.

In woods near the port of Dunkirk, a group of ten Vietnamese people said they had little idea where they were being taken, and had not heard of Rwanda. Several people in the group said they’d fled their homes to escape debts owed to gangsters there.

For now, the threat of being sent to Rwanda remains, for many migrants, either a theoretical risk or something they simply don’t know about. It remains hard to assess what deterrent effect the policy may yet have.

Some Westminster reaction to the prime minister's press conference to bring you now, with the Liberal Democrats saying the government has wasted millions of pounds with nothing to show for it.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey says: “No amount of sound bites or spin can change the fact that the Conservatives' Rwanda scheme is a colossal failure."

"It’s time for Rishi Sunak to get a grip," Davey adds - before urging the PM to call a general election.

Image source, PA Media

Did the UK return 'thousands' of Albanians last year?published at 11:54 British Summer Time 22 April

11:54 BST 22 April

Talking earlier about deterrents, Sunak said that, following his deal with Albania, “we’ve returned thousands of illegal migrants back to Albania last year".

There were a total of 1,487 enforced and 1,852 voluntary asylum-related returns of Albanians in 2023, according to Home Office figures, external.

However, we don’t know how many of those people arrived by small boats.

In 2023, a total of 1,889 people, external – of all nationalities – who arrived by small boats were returned.

This data is not broken down by nationality. So we don’t know how many Albanian small boat arrivals were amongst them.

During his news conference this morning, Rishi Sunak insisted that the first flights bound for Rwanda will leave within 10 to 12 weeks.

"These flights will go, come what may," he said.

He said the scheme was "one of the most complex operational endeavours the Home Office has carried out".

New asylum figures show growing backlogpublished at 11:39 British Summer Time 22 April

11:39 BST 22 April

Callum May
BBC News

Just before the prime minister began his news conference, the Home Office published a new set of asylum statistics, external which shows an increasing backlog of people whose cases can be dealt with only by removal from the UK.

The government is prevented by law (because of last year’s Illegal Migration Act) from assessing the claims of asylum seekers who have arrived in the UK illegally since July 2023. Instead, the legislation says they must be “detained and swiftly removed”.

Today’s stats show that number stood at 51,926 on 14 April.

Those numbers have risen sharply during March and April, as at the end of February the number stood at 39,016.

The new stats also show that the government has removed a comparatively small number of people. During 2024 there have been 1,297 forced removals. This total discounts Albanians – because the UK has a returns deal with Tirana.

The total might also include foreign national offenders who were not asylum seekers but were ordered by a judge to be deported. The statistics published today do not give detail on this.

Which charter airlines could be used for Rwanda flights?published at 11:27 British Summer Time 22 April

11:27 BST 22 April

Katy Austin
Transport correspondent

Image source, Reuters

We've just heard from Rishi Sunak at this morning’s press conference say that the government has "put an airfield on standby" and "booked commercial charter planes for the first flights" as part of preparatory work for the Rwanda scheme.

There have been reports that AirTanker, which has a close relationship with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Ministry of Defence, has had talks with the government over taking part. In 2022, it had ruled itself out of taking part in the scheme, but did not respond to contact from the BBC last week.

Last week another charter company, Titan Airways, told the BBC it would not be participating in the Rwanda deportation scheme directly or indirectly.

Privilege Style was going to have operated the flight which was stopped from going ahead at the last minute in 2022, but reportedly later pulled out of involvement.

Regular commercial airlines are almost certain not to take part.

RwandAir is understood to have declined to participate.