James Cleverly makes desperate last-minute plea as Tory rebels threaten to bin Rwanda plan

Tory rebels are threatening to vote down the flagship bill if it is not toughened up before a crunch vote on Wednesday.

Mr Cleverly warned getting the new laws in place would help defeat the people smuggling trade that led to five migrants dying when their boat overturned in French waters.

He said it will “make it clear that spending money and risking death just isn’t worth it”.

“If you come to the UK illegally you won’t be able to stay here,” he wrote in the Daily Express.

He added: “The deaths this week in the channel show that the people smugglers don’t care if the people they smuggle live or die, they just care about the money.”

“The only losses that matter to them are money. That’s why we are disrupting their flow of cash, as well as boats and engines.”

“We and other countries are working in partnership to break the business model of these criminal people smuggling gangs.”

“I am focussed on protecting our borders and preventing these senseless deaths. Effective border controls are the right and humane way to deal with these dangerous and illegal journeys.”

“We have been working to break this evil business model, and take on these smuggling gangs.”

Senior rightwingers have warned they could oppose the plans in the crunch final vote on Wednesday if it is not toughened up before then.

Mark Francois, Sir John Hayes and Danny Kruger called on colleagues to join them in “standing firm” when the “simply not good enough” legislation goes before them.

Deputy Tory chairman Lee Anderson is said to be considering backing the amendments but has not commented on the claim.

But centrists from the One Nation group warn they will reject the plan if changes are made.

It sets up the Prime Minister for a tricky 48 hours of negotiations to keep the party united on the deportation plan despite both wings largely agreeing it in principle.

Votes on the amendments begin tomorrow (TUES) before MPs are asked to back the bill on Wednesday.

Sir Robert Buckland, former justice secretary said: “I think the bill goes as far as it can – perhaps a little bit further for my taste to work within the rule of law.”

“I think the more you try and use exceptional arguments that this is an exceptional case, we start to erode the mutual respect that needs to exist between Parliament and our court system and undermine the fabric of our constitution.”

“The debate is about the extent to which this bill will work. Some of my colleagues feel they need to go much further in order to exclude the operation of the courts.That just sets up more legal argument and will probably delay the implementation of this policy – delay planes getting into the air and to Rwanda.”

The Safety of Rwanda Bill was introduced to stop courts blocking flights over claims it is not a safe nation to deport people to.

Nearly 60 Tories have backed a series of amendments that would prevent flights being grounded by emergency “pyjama” injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights.

Conservative Tom Hunt, a member of the Common Sense Group of Tories, said the Rwanda bill has “too many chinks in the armour” but insisted he is not intent on defeating the government.

“I’ll have to look at the bill in its final form before I make a decision,” he said. “My focus is fully on those amendments and trying to get support from government.

“My mind is not on wanting to defeat the government. My mind is on wanting to work with the government on these amendments.”

French authorities said a major rescue operation was launched after reports of an incident near Wimereux at around 2am.

Some 32 people were rescued and taken to Calais after getting into difficulty while trying to board the boat in darkness.

France’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said several “castaways” attempted to reach the beach before rescue teams discovered six unconscious people in the water and on the rocks along the coast.

Lord Cameron said: “It’s heartbreaking when these things happen and the loss of life that takes place, and you can only think about what an appalling end it would be in the cold waters of the Channel in the middle of the night.”

“It breaks my heart to hear about it, but it just shows, we’ve got to stop the boats.”

“We’ve got to stop this illegal trade in human beings. Now, we’ve done a huge amount, we’ve given a vast amount of money to help the French with their policing and intelligence operations.”

“We’ve done a vast amount in the Channel itself. But ultimately, the only way you can stop the boats is by busting the model of the people smugglers, by making sure that if someone goes from point A in France to point B in Britain, they do not stay in Britain, that route doesn’t work.”

“Now, in an ideal world, you’d just send them straight back to France and that would be it and the whole trade would collapse.”

“That is not available and that is why we’re pursuing the policy with Rwanda. That is why the bill will be passed next week.”

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “We are deeply saddened by the terrible loss of life in the Channel today. Our thoughts are with the victims and the friends and families directly affected by this tragedy.

“The sad reality is that this is not the first time we are waking up to such devastating news. With no meaningful commitment from the Government to expand safe routes for refugees, it’s only a matter of time before tragedy strikes again.”

“This must act as a wake-up call to take decisive action and reduce dangerous Channel crossings by providing safe routes for those fleeing war-torn countries or repressive regimes. Rather than pushing ahead with unlawful and costly policies such as the Rwanda plan, the Government must put in place safe routes and seek to treat refugees and people seeking asylum with compassion and fairness in line with our country’s values.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “We need to stop these Channel crossings.