Rishi Sunak has attacked Labour’s illegal migration policy as Sir Keir Starmer accused the Conservatives of “fighting like rats in a sack” over the Rwanda bill.
The prime minister called on Labour to “rise above political games” and back the emergency legislation when it comes before the Commons on Tuesday, despite battling to convince his own MPs not to oppose the new law.
Sir Keir will use a speech on the same day as the scheduled vote to say the Conservatives have lost the ability to govern and insist he “won’t let the Tories take the country down with them”.
Home Secretary James Cleverly travelled to Rwanda to sign a revised treaty after the original proposal was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court, which said there was a “real risk” migrants sent there would be returned home and put in danger.
Robert Jenrick quit as immigration minister on Wednesday over the new law, which is designed to speed up deportations and deter people from crossing the Channel on small boats.
The right of the party are awaiting the verdict of a “star chamber” of lawyers before deciding whether to oppose the bill because it doesn’t seek to override international law.
More moderate Tories are weighing up whether they can support the plans amid concerns about compelling courts to find Rwanda is a “safe” country to send asylum seekers.
Meanwhile, the attorney general has been told the bill has a “50% at best” chance of getting fights off the ground next year, according to The Times.
That assessment – said to have been signed off by Sir James Eadie, who represented the government in the Supreme Court – is reportedly based on fears that the European Court of Human Rights would block flights, as it did in June.
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Rwanda bill explained
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Mr Sunak insisted the law would be a “significant step” towards securing UK borders, “thwarting the evil trade of the smuggling gangs” and stopping the “injustice of illegal migration”.
“People in this country care deeply about stopping the boats, he said.
“A government that governs in their interest must act on these entirely legitimate concerns.”
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‘My patience has worn thin, right?’
Mr Sunak said the opposition are “not fit to govern” because “they have no plans to tackle illegal immigration”.
He claimed illegal migration would rise under a Labour government which would agree a “burden sharing agreement for asylum seekers with the EU” and accused the party’s leader of having “blocked the deportation of dangerous criminals”.
“This week, Labour needs for once to rise above political games,” he said.
“They need for once to stop acting in their short-term interests. They need to act in the national interest.
“The Conservatives are on the public’s side – and we will push on with our plan to stop the boats.”
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Starmer challenges PM over Rwanda
‘Miserable chapter of decline’
With a big lead in the polls, Sir Keir will deliver a speech on Tuesday to pitch his “fundamentally changed” Labour as a party that is ready to govern, arguing that the Tory infighting is not just limited to the party’s Rwanda policy but “a cultural stain running through the modern Conservative Party”.
“While they’re all swanning around self-importantly, in their factions and their ‘star chambers’, fighting like rats in a sack, there’s a country out here that isn’t being governed,” he is expected to say.
“It is time to come together, to turn the page on this miserable chapter of decline, and walk towards a decade of national renewal,” he is set to say.
“I have dragged this Labour Party back to service, and I will do the same to British politics. I won’t let the Tories drag our country down with them. We cannot and will not let them kick the hope out of our future.”
The speech will also coincide with the four-year anniversary of the 2019 general election, which saw Boris Johnson lead the Conservatives to a huge common’s majority against Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour.
Sir Keir will say: “You know that this is a party that has fundamentally changed. Not just a paint job, but a total overhaul. A different Labour Party, driven by your values. By British values.”