Leading Tory right-wingers are today launching a battle to ignore human rights laws for asylum seekers - hours after a number of migrants were feared to have died in the Channel.
Boris Johnson is among MPs backing a law that would send UK asylum seekers to Rwanda - even when a court has ruled it is unlawful.
Tory right-winger Jonathan Gullis said his Private Member’s Bill is also backed by former ministers Priti Patel, Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
It will have its first stage in the Commons this afternoon, where it could pass without a vote to its next stage.
Afterwards it could be opposed by the government and be unlikely to become law.
But Mr Gullis’ Bill - also backed by right-wingers Mark Francois, Andrea Jenkyns, Pauline Latham, Tim Loughton, Ben Bradley, Lia Nici and Mark Jenkinson - threatens a revolt against the PM.
It could challenge Rishi Sunak ’s authority just hours after he unveiled a hardline plan to crack down on small boat crossings, including removing Albanian arrivals.
The PM has staked his political career on clearing a 92,601-strong backlog of initial asylum decisions by the end of 2023.
In painful timing, the Bill will be debated just hours after a boat sank in the middle of the English Channel - sparking a desperate rescue mission.
The small boat - usually used to carry migrants to Britain - got into difficulty in icy waters during sub-zero temperatures, with the coastguard and navy ships attending at 3.40am.
Dover MP Natalie Elphicke said this morning that she was “very saddened to hear that lives are feared to have been lost following a small boat tragedy in the English Channel”.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who has branded asylum seekers an “invasion”, tweeted: “I am aware of a distressing incident in the Channel this morning and I am being kept constantly updated while agencies respond and urgently establish the full facts. My heartfelt thoughts are with all those involved.”
The Tory government is still battling to send a single asylum seeker to Rwanda after the European Court of Human Rights ruled against it.
Under the plan, migrants - including genuine refugees - would be taken before being given a chance to apply for protected refugee status in the UK.
Britain has already paid Rwanda £120million to take the UK’s unwanted asylum seekers and Rishi Sunak has vowed to plough on with the policy - branded cruel and unworkable by critics.
It would give the new Nationality and Borders Bill effect even if there is “inconsistency or incompatibility with international or other domestic law.”
And it would force the Home Secretary to “proceed with such removals regardless of any decision or judgment of any international court or body”.
Mr Gullis complained there was an “unprecedented influx of asylum seekers”.
He added: “This will demonstrate to the public that they are serious about using the offshoring deal signed with Rwanda to deter those seeking to come into this country illegally.
“Whilst also making sure the final say on legislative matters lies in Parliament, not judges in a quasi-legislative supranational court in Strasbourg.”
