Rwanda bill latest: Rishi Sunak says flights will leave in 10-12 weeks ahead of vote

Rishi Sunak could have passed the Rwanda plan through parliament much sooner, but “always looks for someone else to blame”, Labour said.

Asked if Labour was blocking the bill, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told broadcasters: “The government has an overall majority in parliament and could have passed this bill a month ago if they had scheduled it then, but as we know Rishi Sunak always looks for someone else to blame.

“This is costing the taxpayer half-a-billion pounds for a scheme that will only cover 1 per cent of asylum seekers.

“This is an extortionate scheme. They should be putting that money into boosting our border security instead. That is what Labour would do.”

Asked if Labour would scrap the scheme even if it was working, she added: “This is an extortionate scheme that has failed just like the previous two laws that the Conservatives have passed on this, and it is why neither the current home secretary nor the former home secretary think this is going to work.

“That is why Labour is calling for this money to be put into boosting our border security with a new cross-border police and new counter-terror-style powers to go after the criminal gangs instead.”

Extreme right-wing online terrorist group Terrorgram is set to be banned in the UK.

Britain will be the first country to ban the group if the plan is approved on Friday, and it will be the first time that an online terror network has been proscribed in the UK.

The move would mean that support for the group would be illegal with punishments of up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine.

A draft proscription order was laid in parliament on Monday and will come into effect on Friday if it is agreed by MPs.

Home secretary James Cleverly said: “The Terrorgram collective spreads vile propaganda and aims to radicalise young people to conduct heinous terrorist acts.

“This is why we are outlawing membership or support for the group – we will not tolerate the promotion or encouragement of terrorism in the United Kingdom.

“It will become the first online terrorist network to be proscribed, alongside 80 other extreme right-wing and Islamist organisations, as we continue to disrupt and outlaw terrorist groups to protect the British people.”

Peers have so far been insisting on two amendments to the Safety of Rwanda bill; one that would ensure that a treaty with the country is properly implemented, and another that would exempt Afghans who served alongside UK forces from deportation.

So what happens next once the flagship Rwanda plan is passed by the Lords?

A Labour Party peer has warned the upper chamber will continue sending the bill back to the Commons until the government accepts its plan to exempt Afghan heroes from being deported to Rwanda.

“Our whip will be on until it’s done,” the unnamed peer told the Politico website.

Downing Street said last week that the government would not be making any concessions on the legislation, which returns to the Commons later today.

The Freedom From Torture charity has said the government needs to start treating refugees with “decency” after Rishi Sunak promised to get Rwand flights taking off by July.

The charity said it would “unite” with “caring people” up and down the country to show airlines “we don’t tolerate them flying in the face of human decency”.

Lucy Gregg, head of advocacy, said: “We urgently need the UK government to start treating refugees with decency and stop trying to send them away to an unsafe future in Rwanda.

“Along with survivors of torture and the support of thousands of caring people up and down the country, we will unite to show airlines that we won’t tolerate them flying in the face of human decency.

“Instead of punishing people who’ve already been through so much, we need compassionate and protection focused policies. It’s time for those in power to stop demonising and scapegoating some of the most vulnerable people in our society, and to restore the right to asylum in the UK and uphold vital international protections.”

The prime minister is facing calls to offer a last-minute concession to peers who have been pushing for an exemption for asylum seekers who served alongside UK forces overseas.

Rishi Sunak has expressed his confidence in under-fire Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley after an officer referred to an antisemitism campaigner as “openly Jewish” and threatened him with arrest, Archie Mitchell reports.

Mr Sunak refused over the weekend to back Sir Mark, who former home secretary Suella Braverman has said should quit.

But on Monday the PM said: “I do have confidence in him, but that’s on the basis that he works to rebuild the confidence and trust of not just the Jewish community but the wider public, particularly people in London.

“You regain that trust and that confidence by making it clear that the police are not tolerating behaviour that we would all collectively deem unacceptable.”

Rishi Sunak has claimed the soaring small boat crossings seen this year are due to a shift toward migrants from Vietnam, Archie Mitchell reports.

The prime minister pointed to a tenfold increase in the number of Vietnamese arrivals in a bid to explain the record start to the year for Channel crossings.

He blamed the “sophisticated gangs” for changing their tactics, increasing the number of people put in each boat and increasing violence against French police officers.

And he said they have “shifted their attention towards vulnerable Vietnamese migrants”.

The first deportation flight to Rwanda will leave in 10 to 12 weeks, Rishi Sunak has said, Archie Mitchell reports.

The prime minister attacked Labour peers for “holding up” the bill in the House of Lords, and said the process to deport asylum seekers could have begun “weeks ago”.

But he said the plans are now in place to deport asylum seekers in three months.

Mr Sunak added: “The success of this doesn’t rest on one flight alone.

“It rests on the relentless continual process of successfully and permanently removing people to Rwanda with a regular rhythm of multiple flights every month, over the summer and beyond, until the boats are stopped.”