Tory MP launches move backed by Boris Johnson and Priti Patel to defy Euro judge and relaunch Rwanda migrant flights
13 December 2022, 23:50 | Updated: 14 December 2022, 09:53
Tory MP Jonathan Gullis has set out new plans to override European judges by resuming migrant deportations to Rwanda - a proposed move that's backed by senior party members.
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Gullis' comments follow the news Boris Johnson and Priti Patel are among senior Tories backing the bill by the backbench MP to bypass the European Court of Human Rights and relaunch deportation flights to the central African nation immediately.
Speaking with Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, the MP hit out at Albanians who "had no reason to be here".
He added: "When you can get a flight for £28 from Albania to the UK but are choosing to pay £5,000 to smuggling gangs, I suggest it's because you don't want us to know who you are and where you're from and your background."
Gullis is set to present a bill to the House of Commons on Wednesday and aims to get around the ruling by the Strasbourg court, which has so far blocked the controversial Rwanda plan.
Tory MP hits out at illegal migrants who could fly to UK for £28
The bill is likely to pile more pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as it has the support of former home secretary Ms Patel, who launched the Rwanda plan earlier this year, and former PM Mr Johnson, in whose Cabinet Ms Patel served.
The plan, which has seen the British government pay £140 million to Rwanda to take migrants from Britain in a bid to crack down on English Channel small boat crossings, has not actually led to any flights taking off to the east African country.
Speaking with Ferrari, Gullis added that he was "trying to add to the Prime Minister's suite of options" by doing what the government did regarding prisoners' voting rights by "ignoring the European Court of Human Rights".
A late intervention by the ECHR in June blocked the first scheduled flight, leading to anger from some Conservative MPs.
Mr Gullis, the MP for Stoke-on-Trent, said that his proposed law would ensure that "the final say on legislative matters lies in Parliament, not judges in a quasi-legislative supranational court in Strasbourg."
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He will tell MPs of his plans in a Ten Minute Rule Bill, which allows backbench MPs to argue the case for a new bill for ten minutes in the Commons.
As well as Mr Johnson and Mr Patel, Mr Gullis also has the backing of former Cabinet members Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries.
It comes after Mr Sunak pledged on Tuesday to restart the Rwanda deportation programme, which has been widely criticised by opposition parties, charities and even then-Prince Charles and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Home Office has said that the threat of being deported to Rwanda will deter people from paying people smugglers to bring them to the UK in small boats.
In a speech to the House of Commons, the PM unveiled a five-point plan to tackle illegal immigration, as he pledged to clear the backlog of cases by the end of next year.
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The PM announced the creation of a 'small boats' command centre, more raids, and plans to slash the £5.5m daily bill currently being spent on putting migrants up in hotels.
He also confirmed tougher steps to stop people arriving from Albania, a safe country.
Mr Sunak told MPs: "It is not cruel or unkind to want to break the stranglehold of criminal gangs who trade in human misery and who exploit our system and laws. Enough is enough.
"As currently constructed the global asylum framework has become obsolete. Today there are 100 million people displaced globally."
He added: "No one can doubt our generosity of spirit but today far too many of the beneficiaries of that generosity are not those directly fleeing war zones or at risk of persecution, but people crossing the Channel in small boats.
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"Many originate from fundamentally safe countries, or travel through safe countries, their journeys are not ad hoc, but co-ordinated by ruthless organised criminals and every single journey risks the lives of women, children and we should be honest mostly men at sea.
"This is not what previous generations intended when they drafted our humanitarian laws."
