Shapps urges action on Channel crisis, Jenrick questions Rwanda bill and ECHR

The Defence Secretary said “there isn’t another way to solve” the issue as he urged Labour not to block Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill in the House of Lords.

He warned Sir Keir Starmer doesn’t “even have a plan” to prevent asylum seekers crossing the Channel in dangerously flimsy boats.

Mr Shapps said: “It’s time to, you know, stop the boats and essentially send the planes, because there isn’t another way again to solve this, and I just have to say, I appeal to Keir Starmer and Labour to stop frustrating and blocking Conservative efforts to stop these boats from coming.”

Peers will today debate a motion laid by former Labour attorney general Peter Goldsmith, which seeks to delay the ratification of the new Rwanda treaty until the government can show the country is safe.

It will give the Government the first indication of how much opposition there will be in the House of Lords.

And the Defence Secretary admitted he is “concerned” Labour will attempt to block the Rwanda Bill in the House of Lords.

He said: “We don’t have a majority in the House of Lords because Labour can block us in coalition with the Lib Dems.”

“So the person who can unblock this in the Lords rather than saying peers are blocking it, it’s Labour who will be blocking it. They’re blocking it, but they don’t they can’t say what they would do about these small boats.”

“They don’t even have a plan. We have a plan. We’re carrying it out. We’ve seen the number of small boats crossings have been slashed by 36% this year, which has been exceptional.”

“We’d like to go further. We think the Rwanda plan is part of that. Keir Starmer has no plan and will take us right back to square one.”

“He even said last week on television that even if the Rwanda plan is working in stopping the small boats, he would still overturn it, if he were to get elected. He has no plan. He’ll take us back to square one.”

But the Government came under fresh attack from former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick who again warned the Rwanda Bill will fail to stop the boats.

Mr Jenrick declared that illegal migration is doing “untold damage to this country”, adding the only countries to successfully end the crisis are those who took the “hardest path”.

He was among 11 MPs to rebel over Mr Sunak’s plan. Former home secretary Suella Braverman also opposed the Safety of Rwanda7 Bill in the final stages of the Safety of Rwanda Bill in the Commons.

Under the Government’s plan, migrants who cross the English Channel on small boats could be sent on a one-way trip to Rwanda rather than being allowed to try to seek asylum in the UK.

The legislation along with a treaty signed with Kigali are intended to make the measures legally watertight following a court ruling blocking deporations.

Mr Jenrick said: “I chose to vote against the bill because I felt that it’s a weak bill that ultimately won’t work. And we will have to see now if in August there are still small boats crossing the Channel, then it will be shown that my argument was right, the Government’s was wrong.”

“But I hope, of course, that the Prime Minister is successful because I want to see the small boats stop. I think this is doing immense damage.”

Think of the hotels, the billions of pounds have been wasted, the people who are dying in the Channel, the people smugglers are feasting on this appalling trade.

“I want to see the small boats stop. I believe that the way to do that is through the most robust action, and that view is formed having travelled around the world, having seen that the only countries in the world that have fixed this problem. Australia and Greece in recent years chose to take the hardest path.”

“That’s what I was proposing. The Prime Minister ultimately wanted to do it in a different way.”

Mr Jenrick also on Sunday refused to rule out running to become Conservative Party leader after his popularity surged among some MPs for trying to take a tougher stance on illegal migration.

He also said net migration should be lower than 200,000 to prevent the housing crisis from intensifying.

He said: “I’ve always believed very strongly on these issues, particularly on immigration. I think that illegal migration is doing untold damage to our country and the stakes are extremely high and we have to take action.”

“Legal migration was a promise that we made not just in our last manifesto, but in every manifesto for nigh on 30 years and yet we’re living in a country where three quarters of a million people are coming in legally every year. And so on these two issues and others I feel extremely strongly and we need to take greater action as a Government to protect the country from this great challenge.”

Mr Jenrick also warned Britain’s membership of the European Convention on Human Rights is “unsustainable”.

He added: “That will become clearer and clearer to the British public in the months and the years ahead. It is a debate we now need to engage in as a party and as a country.”