Rwanda bill vote LIVE: MPs approve Rishi Sunak's asylum deportation legislation at second reading

MPs have approved the Safety of Rwanda Bill at second reading by 313 votes to 269, majority 44.

That means the Prime Minister's controversial Rwanda Bill is allowed to progress to its next stage in Parliament.

MPs debated the flagship asylum deportation legislation in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening, as Rishi Sunak made last-ditch efforts to persuade would-be Tory rebels to back it.

The legislation is intended to address the Supreme Court’s concerns about proposals to send some asylum seekers who cross the English Channel to Rwanda rather than allowing them to claim asylum in the UK.

Live coverage ends

21:36 , Josh Salisbury

Our live coverage is now ending for the evening. Thank you for following along.

For an overview of the day's developments in Westminster, visit here.

Former Tory leader could change mind on Rwanda bill

21:04 , Josh Salisbury

Despite voting to support the Bill, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has said he could always rescind his backing at a later date.

He said: "We always reserve the right to do what we have to do when we think it doesn't work, my personal view is I want to see the Government listen and engage.

"Right now this was a very difficult Bill to get through, very contentious, it was the toughest bit of legislation concerning people's rights, in terms of asylum seekers, that we've seen, and that's because the crisis is big and many people are dying in the channel."

He added of divisions in the Conservative party: "Of course [there are divisions], but these divisions are about big issues and I think what the public want is a result at the end of this."

Labour calls for 'stronger border security' to fix 'asylum chaos'

20:52 , Miriam Burrell

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called for a cross-party agreement on border enforcement.

Speaking after the Rwanda vote, she said: “We need both stronger border security and stronger action to fix the Tories’ asylum chaos that has got worse and worse over the last few years."

She said Labour will set up a new “returns unit” to remove people who do not have a right to be in the UK and stated the Tories had presided over a 50% drop in such returns.

Ms Cooper also set out plans to create an international security agreement to share information on people-smuggling networks.

She said: “We ought to have a cross-party agreement on some of these basic things like going after the gangs, clearing the backlog, and getting returns in place, getting proper enforcement in place, but they’re not capable of doing that because they’re too busy taking lumps out of each other – because they are more interested in their civil war than they are in actually tackling the problems, and in actually doing a fair deal for the country.”

Government should 'cut their losses and drop bill', Labour MP says

20:35 , Miriam Burrell

The Labour MP for Streatham, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "The Tories are desperately trying to progress their cruel and costly deportation Rwanda scheme - in defiance of basic facts.

"This policy is as crap as it is unworkable. They should cut their losses and drop it."

Watch her speak in the House of Commons tonight.

James Cleverly says 'Parliament has spoken'

20:18 , Miriam Burrell

Home Secretary James Cleverly said “Parliament has spoken” after Rishi Sunak won a crunch vote in the Commons over his emergency Rwanda legislation.

In a post to X, formerly Twitter, Mr Cleverly said: “We must be able to choose who comes to our country – not criminal gangs."

Rwanda Bill 'triggers constitutional crisis'

20:15 , Miriam Burrell

Responding to tonight’s Commons vote on the Rwanda Bill, Fiona Rutherford, chief executive of charity JUSTICE, said: "This Bill - passed by less than half of our MPs - triggers a constitutional crisis by trying to decree away reality as set out in the unanimous finding by our most senior court.

"It fundamentally threatens the independence of our judiciary - an independence which underpins our very democracy.

"We urge all those who voted for the Bill to think again as the Bill progresses through Parliament, recalling their responsibilities as custodians of our democracy and their duty to uphold the rule of law."

Rishi Sunak 'should be very happy', Therese Coffey says

20:05 , Miriam Burrell

Therese Coffey said Rishi Sunak will be happy with winning the Rwanda Bill vote.

The MP for Suffolk Coastal said “the issue has become rather totemic” and added she wanted the Conservative Party to focus on “the criminal gangs pushing people across with false hope”.

Speaking after the vote, she said: “That was a solid vote. Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister should be very happy tonight.

“It was important to get the Bill through this stage today and I think a majority of 44, any Prime Minister would be proud of that, especially giving the tensions today.

“For the majority of people in this country, what they care about is the money in their pocket and economic growth.”

Asked what she would say to the rebel Tory groups who did not support the Bill, she said: “Just go through the detail carefully, and it’s important that the Government listens, and it’s important that people concerned about the legislation, on both ends of the political party, look at the details.”

Sunak wins breathing space after avoiding defeat

20:00 , Josh Salisbury

The Prime Minister has avoided a damaging defeat after Tory Rightwingers moved away at the eleventh hour from torpedoing the legislation, writes political editor, Nicholas Cecil.

The result has given Mr Sunak some breathing time to get his party more fully behind him on his plan to deal with the “small boats” crisis.

But Tory Rightwingers want to amend the bill at its later parliamentary stages in the New Year to toughen it up.

Read more here.

Khan slams Rwanda deal as 'inhumane'

19:54 , Josh Salisbury

Reactions are now coming in thick and fast to the vote.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says the bill is "unworkable, inhumane and a waste of money."

He says London and the UK has "stood as a sanctuary for those seeking refuge for centuries," and adds: "We deserve so much better than this cruel incompetent Government."

Meanwhile, the JCWI, a national campaigning migration charity, says it is "appalled".

"This is an extremely dangerous bill that puts people's lives at risk while letting the Government rewrite facts and place themselves above the law," it says.

Sunak reacts after staving off rebellion

19:50 , Josh Salisbury

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has welcomed the bill clearing its second reading after he staved off a rebellion within his party.

"The British people should decide who gets to come to this country – not criminal gangs or foreign courts," he said.

"That’s what this Bill delivers. We will now work to make it law so that we can get flights going to Rwanda and stop the boats."

38 Tory MPs listed as not voting

19:46 , Josh Salisbury

38 Conservative MPs are listed as having not voted on the Government's Rwanda bill, according to the House of Commons website.

Some of these will be abstentions.

But some could also be due to 'pairing' arrangements, a convention where an MP agrees not to vote as a member of a rival party is absent, for example due to sickness.

There have also been occasions where an MP's vote has not registered on the pass reader system and they are added to the relevant list later - moving from the no vote recorded column.

No Tory MP voted against bill - abstentions not yet clear

19:40 , Josh Salisbury

No Tory MPs voted against tonight's bill.

However, the number of abstentions are not clear.

The legislation could face further difficulty when it returns to the Commons in the New Year depending on the number of Tory abstainers.

Rwanda bill passes second reading

19:31 , Josh Salisbury

Rishi Sunak has seen off a Tory rebellion for now, as the Government's Rwanda Bill has passed its second reading by 313 to 269, a majority of 44.

Labour amendment defeated

19:14 , Josh Salisbury

MPs have just voted on a Labour amendment, which would have effectively stopped the bill progressing further.

As expected, the amendment has been defeated 337 to 269. That's a Government majority of 68.

MPs are now voting on the main motion of the Government's Rwanda bill itself.

Voting begins

19:06 , Josh Salisbury

Voting has now begun.

MPs will first vote on a Labour amendment which the Government is expected to defeat.

The result of this will be declared around 7.15pm. MPs will then vote on the main, substantive Government motion.

As a reminder, just 29 Tory MPs need to vote against the Rwanda Bill - or 57 need to abstain - for it to fail.

Few Tory MPs are expected to vote against the bill outright, with most critics indicating they will abstain in the hope of amending the bill at a later stage.

ERG Tories 'do not support' Rwanda bill, says Francois

18:55 , Josh Salisbury

Mark Francois, of the influential ERG group of Conservative MPs, has said the group will not back the bill.

This means five separate groups of right-wing Conservative MPs have decided they cannot support the Safety of Rwanda Bill at its second reading, Mr Francois said on their behalf.

He says the group has decided it cannot support the bill due to a number of "omissions".

The bulk of those members will abstain, and hope to tally amendments at a later stage, he says.

Minister: We must stop small boats

18:49 , Josh Salisbury

Michael Tomlinson, the new immigration minister, is winding up the debate for the Government benches.

He says it is a "moral imperative" to stop the boats and "smash criminal gangs" bringing people across the Channel in small boats.

Labour: Rwanda bill is a 'sham'

18:43 , Josh Salisbury

Stephen Kinnock, the shadow immigration minister, is winding up the debate for Labour.

He says that Rwanda is getting a "sweet deal" with hundreds of millions of pounds while no flights of asylum seekers leaving for Kigali.

However, he says, the Conservatives have managed to get some flights off the ground - as three Home Secretaries have visited Rwanda.

He calls the bill a "sham", and calls on the Government to say whether it will accept any significant amendments - which it had hinted it might do on domestic elements of the bill to placate some critics.

"The Conservative Party is no longer a serious party at all," he says, adding that Mr Sunak is being "consumed" by warring factions within his party.

To cheers from Labour benches, he calls for the Conservatives to call an election.

Rwanda 'have made mugs' of UK government

18:37 , Josh Salisbury

We're winding up to the end of the debate now.

Among those who have spoken recently is SNP MP Pete Wishart, who said Rwanda has made "utter mugs" of the "chaotic" UK Government.

He told the Commons: "Hasn't Rwanda played an absolute blinder? They must have seen them coming from thousands of miles away, soliciting hundreds of millions of pounds from this Government and apparently they're going to get another £100 million more.

"They've done all this without taking one single deportee. Go Rwanda, you have made utter mugs of this chaotic Government across the road."

Mr Wishart said the Rwanda bill might be the piece of legislation that "brings down" the Government, adding: "What a hill to die on - an obsession with immigration, an obsession with stopping these small boats, and by God they deserve to be brought down."

Tory MP criticised after saying Doncaster is 'full' in bill debate

18:02 , Josh Salisbury

A Conservative MP debating the Rwanda bill has claimed immigration has left his constituency of Doncaster "full".

Speaking in the Commons, Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher said: "I've said it before and I'll say it again, Doncaster is full."

He added: "We are turning parts of our community into a ghetto."

His full speech was slammed by several other MPs, including the SNP's Joanna Cherry. "I feel like I've gone back in time to listen to Enoch Powell's rivers of blood speech again," she says.

Cost of Rwanda scheme to be probed

17:41 , Josh Salisbury

The National Audit Office (NAO) has said it will investigate the cost of the Rwanda scheme after concern from MPs.

The head of the NAO, Gareth Davies, has said a report will be published next year.

This will cover costs incurred to date, and estimates of costs when the scheme is operational.

The government gave £140m to Rwanda in 2022 for the scheme with a further £100m given to the country in 2023. A payment of £50m is "anticipated" in 2024.

DUP won't support Rwanda bill, says senior MP

17:14 , Josh Salisbury

A senior DUP MP has said his party will not back the Rwanda bill, saying it was "fatally flawed".

Sammy Wilson, who represents East Antrim in Northern Ireland, said: "We cannot support the Safety of Rwanda Bill.

"The Bill is fatally flawed & will not achieve the objective it has been drafted to resolve.

"There is a real danger that Northern Ireland will become a gateway for illegal immigration if this Bill were to become law."

It is not clear of the party's eight MPs in Parliament will vote against the bill, or abstain.

No10: Government will listen to MPs' amendments

16:43 , Josh Salisbury

A spokesperson for Rishi Sunak has hinted the Government might be more open to amendments on the bill after suggestions from right-wing Tory MPs that it does not go far enough.

Some MPs are abstaining on tonight's bill in favour of hoping to amend the legislation at a later stage, but others have said they would withdraw support depending on the effect of any proposed amendments.

Mr Sunak has said the bill cannot go further because Rwanda would then collapse the deal.

But asked whether the current Bill is at the limits of what Kigali would accept, Mr Sunak's spokesman said: "The Rwandan government's position is in relation to the international law elements.

"There are other aspects of the Bill that don't relate purely to that, so I'm not going to rule out considering any further suggestions that MPs may make or have made.

"Those conversations are ongoing."

This appears to suggest that the Government would be more amenable to amendments on domestic elements of the bill.

No10: Bibby Stockholm refugees 'given support' after death

16:21 , Josh Salisbury

Downing Street said migrants living on the Bibby Stockholm barge have been assessed for signs of emotional trauma.

It follows the death of an asylum seeker on board the vessel docked in Portland, Dorset.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman told reporters: "There has been and continues to be support available to those on the Bibby, as it is indeed available (to those) in other forms of accommodation.

"Everyone has a medical assessment, including for emotional trauma.

"They are monitored for further support, any vulnerabilities are recognised and supported, there are trained staff available.

"So, all of that support will continue in light of this tragic incident."

Dover MP: 'I'm concerned bill won't stop boats'

16:16 , Josh Salisbury

Conservative MP Natalie Elpicke has told MPs stopping the boats would save lives - but she is concerned the bill won't achieve that aim. Ms Elphicke is MP for Dover, where many small boats land.

She tells MPs: "It is on the shores of the English Channel where I have stood too often in sadness at the many that have been lost. Unnecessary lives that have been lost because each and every person was safe already in France.

"In a very real sense, if we stop the boats, we save lives."

However, she adds: "But I am gravely concerned that today's bill in its current form won't do what the Government wants."

She does not reveal how she plans to vote tonight.

New Conservatives co-chair won't back bill

16:00 , Josh Salisbury

Danny Kruger, co-chair of the New Conservatives, has told MPs he will not be backing the bill tonight.

Mr Kruger, MP for Devizes, said he remains concerned about individual challenges to deportation being allowed, although the Government insists these would be exceptionally rare.

It is not clear if he plans to vote against or abstain.

Members of the faction on the right of the party had earlier met with Rishi Sunak for breakfast to air concerns about the legislation.

"I regret we have got an unsatisfactory bill, I can't undertake to support it tonight," he says. "I had hoped that the Government would agree to pull the bill and allow us to work with them and colleagues to produce a better bill, one that respects Parliamentary sovereignty."

PM meeting bill sceptics 'one by one'

15:42 , Josh Salisbury

Rishi Sunak is said to be meeting critics of the bill one-by-one as he seeks to shore up support ahead of tonight's vote.

Mr Sunak is said to be "pulling out all the stops” and is now talking to the MPs he met in No 10 this morning for a breakfast meeting “one-on-one", reports Sky News.

The Government has already imposed a three-line whip on Tory MPs in a sign it knows the vote will be close.

How many rebels will kill the bill?

15:31 , Rachael Burford

Just 29 Tory MPs need to vote against the Rwanda Bill - or 57 need to abstain - for it to fail.

The One Nation caucus of more than 100 centrist Conservatives MPs have already said they will support the bill.

But there are around 100 MPs represented by the so-called "five families" of right-wing Tory factions, who have been the most vocal about stopping the boats and suggesting the current legislation does not go far enough.

Few Tories have definitively come out and confirmed that they will not be supporting the legislation.

Is Rishi toast?

15:06 , Rachael Burford

Rishi Sunak's government has seen its public ratings on managing immigration hit a new low as his MPs wage war over his controversial Rwanda plan, a new poll for the Standard revealed today.

The Ipsos UK survey shows that 79 per cent of Brits, including three-quarters of Tory supporters, believe ministers are doing a bad job on immigration, the highest since this question was first asked by the pollster two years ago.

Read the full story by Political Editor Nicholas Cecil here.

Three line whip for MPs

14:54 , Rachael Burford

In a sign that the Government knows the vote tonight will be close, all Tory MPs have been called to Parliament - even those abroad.

Controversially, the UK's net zero minister Graham Stuart has flown home from COP28 in Dubai to take part.

Downing Street said he would be flying 3,400 miles back to the UAE for the end of climate summit later.

Read the full story here.

Bibby Stockholm death to be 'fully investigated'

14:42 , Rachael Burford

Home Secretary James Cleverly has promised an investigation into the death of an asylum seeker on board the the Bibby Stockholm barge this morning.

Ahead of the debate on the Rwanda Bill, Mr Cleverly told the House of Commons: "Tragically, there has been a death on the Bibby Stockholm barge. I’m sure that the thoughts of the whole House, like mine, are with those affected.

"The House will understand that at this stage I am uncomfortable getting into any more details. But we will of course investigate fully."

Police were called to reports of a death on the vessel moored off the coast of Dorset at 6.22am this morning.

Full story here.

'If we stop it now, we start all over again'

14:20 , Rachael Burford

Iain Duncan Smith confirms he will be supporting the Rwanda Bill despite its "flaws".

The former Conservative leader has previously said that rebels had the potential to throw the party into crisis.

Ex immigration minister: 'Small boat arrivals could rise for many years'

14:04 , Rachael Burford

Tory MP Robert Jenrick warns the number of small boat arrivals in the UK will rise "for many years to come" unless the Rwanda plan is properly carried out. Jenrick quit as immigration minister last week claiming the Rwanda Bill did not go far enough.

"There are good people on both sides of this House and certainly within my party who have disagreements about how we can make this policy work," he tells the Commons.

"But my point of view is this, when untold damage is being done to our country, when this issue will be with us for years if not decades to come, where if we do not operationalise this policy correctly, we will see the numbers rise, and we will see them rise for many years to come.

"If, God forbid, there was a Labour government, there would be a decade of small boat arrivals. I want to stop that."Some MPs on the right of the Tory party have hinted Mr Jenrick will play an influential role in how the block of rebels vote tonight.

What's the cost of Rwanda?

13:46 , Rachael Burford

Labour demands to know whether the total cost of the Rwanda policy has reached an eyewatering £400million.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper tells the Commons that minsters had repeatedly tried to hide the cost, adding: "Hundreds of millions of pounds could now be 400 millions of pounds, and I would like the immigration minister - whichever of the immigration ministers is winding up today - to explain whether in fact this is now a £400million plan."

Rishi Sunak was facing pressure over the policy last week after it emerged the scheme had already cost at least £240million, despite never being used.

The government spent a further £100million in the 2023-24 financial year while flights remained grounded- on top of the £140million previously paid out.

Balance between Parliament and the courts at 'breaking point', Sir Robert Buckland says

13:32 , Miriam Burrell

The balance between Parliament and the courts is being tested to “breaking point” by the Rwanda plan, a Conservative former justice secretary has said.

Sir Robert Buckland told the Home Secretary in the Commons: “He makes the point about foreign courts. Well, what about domestic courts? Is there not a danger that in pursuing quite stringent measures in this Bill that we are really testing the principle of comity to breaking point?

“This Parliament is sovereign, but we also have the independence of the courts and the rule of law to bear in mind, and restraint on both sides by the judiciary and by this place is essential if we are to maintain the balance of our constitution.”

James Cleverly replied: “I want to give him complete reassurance that we have looked very carefully at the balance that he speaks about.

“We absolutely respect the importance of that. We genuinely believe this does get the balance right, although because of the growing nature of this extreme and perverse trade in human misery, we have to take firm action."

80% of Britons say Tories doing badly on immigration

13:21 , Miriam Burrell

Rishi Sunak's government has seen its public ratings on managing immigration hit a new low as his MPs wage war over his controversial Rwanda plan, a poll revealed on Tuesday.

The Ipsos UK survey for the Evening Standard found that 79 per cent of Britons, including three-quarters of Tory supporters, believe ministers are doing a bad job on immigration, the highest since this question was first asked by the pollster two years ago.

Just one in 10 say the Government is doing a good job, also a recent low, after net legal migration rose to a record 745,000 last year and it was left scrambling to salvage its Rwanda deportation scheme after it was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court.

Read more here.

Unclear if ministers can ignore European law under new Bill

13:14 , Miriam Burrell

The Home Secretary would not say whether the new Bill would allow ministers to ignore orders from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) aimed at grounding deportation flights to Rwanda.

Past attempts to deport people to Rwanda have been stopped by interim orders from the Strasbourg Court.

In the Commons, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “On that point on foreign courts, 5.2 of the Bill says that it is for a minister of the Crown to decide whether the United Kingdom will comply with the interim measure.

“Is the advice from the Attorney General (AG) that it will be compatible with international law for a minister to refuse to comply with such an indication?”

James Cleverly replied: “He… will know that advice from the AG to Government is privileged and I am not going to be sharing it at the despatch box, but he will also know that the Government’s position is clear and unambiguous that this is in accordance with international law.

“So he can rest assured on that.”

What's happened this morning?

13:07 , Miriam Burrell

Rishi Sunak invited MPs from the New Conservatives group to breakfast at No 10 in an attempt to persuade them to back the Safety of Rwanda Bill.

Would-be rebels have warned Mr Sunak that “major surgery” is still required to fix the flagship asylum legislation, with as many as 40 Conservatives prepared to either abstain or vote against it.

In a social media post, Mr Sunak publicly pleaded with MPs to back him: “Today MPs will vote on the toughest ever anti-illegal immigration legislation."

Rwanda Bill 'very much pushing at the edge of the envelope'

13:01 , Miriam Burrell

Tory MP John Baron has said he intends to support the Rwanda Bill and his colleagues should “be careful what they wish for”.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Baron said: "Can (James Cleverly) confirm that the Government will take all steps to ensure that we remain within international law, just not now but going forward, in which case I will certainly be supporting the Bill tonight.

“But does he also agree with me that some colleagues in this place need to be careful what they wish for?”

In response, the Home Secretary said: “I am confident and indeed the conversations that I have had with the Government’s legal advisors reinforces my belief that the actions that we are taking whilst novel, whilst very much pushing at the edge of the envelope, are within the framework of international law.”

UK has deported 22,000 'illegal migrants', Cleverly says

12:56 , Miriam Burrell

The Government “is stopping the boats”, Home Secretary James Cleverly said.

He told the Commons: “This Government is stopping the boats. Arrivals are down by a third this year as illegal entries are on the rise elsewhere in Europe.”

He said small boat arrivals are up by 80% in the Mediterranean but down by a third across the English Channel.

He outlined steps the Government has taken so far, saying: “These things are having an impact, and a positive one.”

He said returns agreements and cooperation agreements had been signed with other countries, saying 50 hotels are being “returned to the local communities”, and said the asylum backlog has gone from 92,000 to less than 20,000.

He added: “We have sent back 22,000 illegal migrants. And the UK’s arrangement with Albania proves that deterrents work.”

British people 'support the Rwanda plan', James Cleverly says

12:52 , Miriam Burrell

Parliament and the British people “support the Rwanda plan”, Home Secretary James Cleverly has told the Commons.

He opened the debate on the second reading of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill.

He said: “In recent years, some of the Government’s efforts to tackle illegal migration and deport foreign national offenders have been frustrated by a seemingly endless cycle of legal challenges and rulings from domestic and foreign courts.

“Of course… this Government respects court judgments, even when we disagree with them, but Parliament and the British people want an end to illegal immigration and they support the Rwanda plan.”