James Cleverly has insisted that only people smugglers benefit from a delay to Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plans.
The Home Secretary said opponents in the Lords and Labour were trying to take away one of the tools that would deter migrants from making life-threatening journeys.
He said: “I refuse to just sit and watch whilst people are dying in the Mediterranean or dying in the Channel and whilst evil people are making money. I flatly refuse to be passive on this.
“We want to make sure that it works but I’m also going to make sure that wrecking amendments which are designed to destroy the Bill are not entertained.”
Mr Cleverly said he would look closely at the amendments backed by the Lords but would reject any that “wrecked” or watered down the legislation.
He insisted the Bill had been carefully drawn to be “robust and effective” but remain within the bounds of international law.
Following this weekend’s death of a seven-year-old migrant in the Channel, Mr Cleverly said it highlighted that “the bottom line is that the people smugglers are proving themselves to be more and more careless with human lives”.
“There is nothing noble or honourable or righteous about watching this happen and not doing anything.
“The Government and the Prime Minister, we are taking action to break these gangs and people can help or they can get out the way but I’m not going to be deterred.
“If people, whether they be in the Lords, or the opposition parties in the House of Commons, if they are trying to take away one of the tools for dissuading people making these life-threatening journeys, and if they’re trying to take away one of the tools to break the business model of people smugglers, and they are not suggesting what they would replace it, my assessment is they are not helping solve a problem.
“Other countries are looking seriously at replicating elements of our Rwanda plan.
“They are very keen to see how this works because they recognise that we can’t just sit on our hands and watch this happen.
“It is the luxury of opposition that you get to point at things and say I wouldn’t do it like that.”
Mr Cleverly said the Home Office intended to get the first flights to Rwanda off the ground as “quickly as possible” but refused to place an “arbitrary deadline” on when that would happen.
March 20 is the potential date for the Bill to complete all its deliberations in Parliament.
