Suella Braverman’s Illegal Migration Bill came under heavy fire from a senior Tory MP on Thursday who said: “Churchill would be turning in his grave.”
Chris Skidmore, who chaired the Government’s Net Zero Review, also warned the legislation risked “sort of creating a Windrush Mark Two”.
He argued that the Government was focusing too much on “small boats” and a “culture war”.
Mr Skidmore, MP for Kingswood, joined the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and dozens of other peers in criticising the bill.
The controversial legislation aims at ensuring people who arrive in “small boats” crossing the Channel are detained and promptly removed, either to their home country or a third country such as Rwanda, and banned from returning to the UK.
The Bill also includes provisions that would limit the ability of the European Court of Human Rights to prevent the deportation of asylum seekers and other migrants.
But Mr Skidmore told ITV’s Peston programme that he had serious concerns that it would put the UK in breach of international law.
“Churchill would be turning in his grave, if he thought we were going to be taking the UK out of the processes of international law,” he said
“And that’s just simply something I’m not prepared to do, which is why I’ve not participated in the bill, because I don’t think the bill is necessary, it won’t solve the problem. “
He added: “I’ve got reservations on whether this is morally the correct thing to do, whether the long-term implications of this have been thought through.
“Whether [it is] sort of creating a Windrush Mark Two. A number of individual cases I can see going horrifically wrong if this legislation was in place, which I doubt it will be - we’ve just seen the U-turn on EU retained legislation.”
He also criticised Rishi Sunak’s strategy and his five key pledges to pass legislation to “stop the boats”, halve inflation, reduce debt, get the economy growing and cut NHS waiting lists.
While accepting that the NHS and the economy were key issues for voters, alongside the green agenda, he added: “You know, small boats, the culture war - they’re nowhere.”
Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry backed repealing the migrant bill, though, this appeared to be at odds with the Labour Party’s official position.
She said: “I think we should repeal it, yes of course I do. But I mean, we’ll see what happens. We have been completely against it, we have voted against it in every way, we have tried to amend it, we have tried to make it better, we’ve tried to knock the edges off.
“But there’s so much legislation we disagree with, if we spend all our time repealing Conservative legislation we won’t be able to put forward our positive agenda. But yeah, this would be on my list of things to repeal.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury on Wednesday went head-to-head with the Government, condemning its plans to tackle the small-boats crisis as “morally unacceptable and politically impractical”.
But the intervention by the Most Rev Justin Welby sparked criticism of the church leader at Westminster, who was told neither "handwringing or bell ringing" will solve the misery of the channel crossings.
Ministers have also said the top cleric was “wrong”.
The exchanges came during a lengthy, impassioned debate lasting more than ten hours on the Illegal Migration Bill in the House of Lords.
The flagship legislation cleared its first parliamentary hurdle in the unelected chamber after a Liberal Democrat bid to block it was rejected by 179 votes to 76, majority 103.
But the immigration reforms, which have already been passed by the Commons, is set for a rocky ride through the Lords, where it faced a barrage of criticism.
Critics argue the draft legislation breaks international law and threatens modern slavery protections.
In a withering attack at second reading, Mr Welby said: “This Bill fails to take a long-term and strategic view of the challenges of migration and undermines international co-operation rather than taking an opportunity for the UK to show leadership.”
Mr Welby added: “It is isolationist, it is morally unacceptable and politically impractical to let the poorest countries deal with the crisis alone and cut our international aid.
“This Bill is an attempt at a short-term fix.
“It risks great damage to the UK's interests and reputation at home and abroad, let alone the interests of those in need of protection or the nations who together face this challenge.
“Our interests as a nation are closely linked to our reputation for justice and the rule of law and to our measured language, calm decision and careful legislation.
“None of those are seen here. This nation should lead internationally, not stand apart.”
But rejecting the Archbishop's criticism, House Of Cards author Lord Dobbs stressed the need to tackle the people smugglers.
The Tory peer and former adviser to the Thatcher government said: "It is our moral obligation to stop them, to bring an end to the unimaginable pain of mothers and fathers watching their children drowning off our shores in the channel. No amount of handwringing or bell ringing is going to do that."
In summing up, Home Office minister Lord Murray of Blidworth said: "The Archbishop of Canterbury and other members were right to place the Bill in its moral context. Proceeding with this Bill is the moral course.
"We must put a stop to the dangerous channel crossings, putting lives at risk and splitting families.
"We must end the callous exploitation of vulnerable people by the people smugglers and we must uphold the law and ensure fair play for those who abide by our immigration rules."
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said that he “respectfully” disagreed with Mr Welby and said that he had not put forward an “alternative” to the Government’s policy.
He told ITV's Peston programme: “He was actually very clear that we do need to stop the boats. He didn't have an alternative solution as to how we would do that.”
He also said that he did not think that there was “anything moral in perpetuating the trade for people smugglers and human traffickers”.
Earlier in Parliament, Liberal Democrat and former senior police officer Lord Paddick told peers the legislation was “a low point in the history of this Government”.
He said: “This Bill seeks to systematically deny human rights to a group of people desperately seeking sanctuary.”
Labour frontbencher Lord Coaker said: “In response to a broken system that is failing, we have a Government playing fast and loose with our place in the world and our respect for international law. This must change.”
