https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/rwanda-bill-not-fit-for-purpose

Lords slam ‘legal fiction’ as they inflict first defeat on cruel Tory plan for asylum-seekers, decision comes day after seven-year-old girl tragically drowns in Channel

PEERS inflicted their first defeat against PM Rishi Sunak’s proposed Rwanda asylum law today — putting the House of Lords on a collision course with the government.

The upper chamber backed by 274 votes to 172, majority 102, a move to ensure the draft legislation, aimed at clearing the way to send asylum-seekers who cross the Channel in small boats on a one-way flight to Kigali, is fully compliant with the law.

The heavy government defeat sets the stage for an extended tussle between the Commons and Lords during “ping-pong,” where legislation is batted between the two houses until agreement is reached.

Peers slammed the government’s assertion that the east African country is safe to send migrants in contrary to a Supreme Court ruling.

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Former Lord Speaker Baroness D’Souza branded the emergency legislation a “legal fiction.”

The independent cross-bench peer said it is “writing into law a demonstrably false statement that Rwanda is a safe country to receive asylum-seekers and thereby forcing all courts to treat Rwanda as a safe country, despite clear findings of fact.”

Former shadow attorney general Baroness Chakrabarti, who brought the supported amendment, told peers that Labour is calling for changes to the Bill that would ensure compliance with the rule of law.

She argued this must be “completely incontrovertible for those like the Prime Minister, who now claim to be liberal patriots.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/rwanda-bill-not-fit-for-purpose