LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak laid out a challenge Thursday to members of Parliament’s unelected upper chamber to swiftly pass his controversial plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda
Sunak said any attempt by the House of Lords to soften or delay the policy, which elected lawmakers in the House of Commons backed Wednesday, would “frustrate the will of the people.”
“There is now only one question,” Sunak said at a news conference in his Downing Street headquarters. “Will the opposition in the appointed House of Lords try and frustrate the will of the people as expressed by the elected House? Or will they get on board and do the right thing?”
Sunak’s governing Conservatives do not have a majority in the House of Lords, which is made up of representatives from political parties as well as non-aligned appointees. The Lords can delay and amend legislation but ultimately can’t overrule the elected House of Commons.
Already, many members of the Lords have voiced concerns over the Rwanda plan, with one, Alex Carlile, describing it as “a step towards totalitarianism.”
A long delay would jeopardize Sunak’s ambition to have removal flights leaving by the spring, possibly timed to coincide with a general election.
With polls consistently showing the Conservatives trailing far behind the main Labour opposition, Sunak has made the controversial — and expensive — immigration policy central to his attempt to win an election later this year.
The Safety of Rwanda Bill, which was backed on Wednesday, is intended to overcome a U.K. Supreme Court block on the policy and give authorities the power to send migrants arriving in small boats to Rwanda rather than being allowed to seek asylum in Britain.
More than 29,000 people arrived in the U.K. in small boats across the Channel in 2023, down from 42,000 the year before.
On Wednesday, another 358 migrants made the treacherous journey, a week after five people died while trying to launch a boat from northern France in the dark and winter cold.
“I’m fighting every day to get the flights off to Rwanda,” Sunak said. “This is an urgent national priority.”
However, there is deep skepticism that the plan will work, both within Sunak’s party and among political opponents. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has described the policy as a “gimmick” and said he will reverse it if it comes into power.
Moderates in the Conservative Party worry the policy is too extreme, concerns underscored when the United Nations’ refugee agency said this week the Rwanda plan “is not compatible with international refugee law.” However, many on the party’s powerful right wing think the bill doesn’t go far enough and will be vulnerable to court rulings.
Sunak won the vote comfortably on Wednesday. But the victory came only after scores of Conservative lawmakers rebelled on earlier votes to make the policy even tougher.
Despite the clear divisions over the issue, Sunak insisted that his party was “completely united.”