Deputy chairman of the Conservative Party Lee Anderson has called on MPs to “ignore the law” after the Supreme Court ruled the Rwanda plan was unlawful.
He said called the Supreme Court ruling a ‘dark day’ for Britain after an emergency meeting of the New Conservatives group in parliament this morning
Speaking to the Times, he said: “It’s a dark day for British people. We should just get the planes in the air right now and send them Rwanda.
“People are fed up in this country. They’re fed up of being taken for a ride and paying their taxes to people who have no right to be here and are criminals. The government need to show our leadership an send them back same day.“
Asked whether or not that would be breaking the law, given the Supreme Court’s judgement, Anderson replied, “What law? These people are coming over here and breaking laws. These people have got no right to be here.
“I think we should ignore the law and send them back same day. There’s a reason everyone in this country locks their back door at night – because they don’t want intruders coming in. These people are intruders.”
Mr Anderson’s comments come after the Supreme Court ruled the Rwanda plan was unlawful, a verdict which left Rishi Sunak disappointed.
Mr Anderson said he believed people who came to the UK by boat needed to be sent back within 24 hours.
He said: “These people are intruders and we need to send them back the same day.
“The British people have been very patient with this; I’ve been very patient and now they’re demanding action. And this has sort of forced our hand a little bit now.”
This morning the Supreme Court said the Rwanda plan was unlawful because there was a high probability that people would be sent back to their home countries, a process known as refoulement.
Following their defeat, the government announced it would be looking at alternative means of implementing their plan.
In Parliament, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said work on a new treaty with Rwanda had already begun and that changes to domestic laws could be made in order to accommodate that.
He said: “The government has been working already on a new treaty with Rwanda and we will finalise that in light of today’s judgement. Furthermore, if necessary I am prepared to revisit our domestic legal frameworks.”
I am prepared to change our laws and revisit those international relationships. The British people expect us to do whatever it takes to stop the boats and that is precisely what this government will deliver.”
