Rishi Sunak’s government is considering concessions on the Rwanda deportation bill to allow exemptions for Afghans who served alongside UK forces, parliamentary sources say the Guardian
Ministers are also being pressed to give ground to an amendment to the legislation so that the east African country could be ruled unsafe by a monitoring committee.
This comes after peers blocked the flagship bill for a third time on Tuesday night by backing four amendments. Sunak is under pressure from his own MPs to ensure that planes take off this spring, in the hope they can revive the Conservative party’s political fortunes.
The Rwanda (asylum and immigration) bill will return to the Commons at Wednesday lunchtime and is expected to move to the Lords hours later.
The amendment enacting the Afghan exemption, put forward by Des Browne, a former Labour defence secretary, secured the biggest majority – of 57 – with peers backing it by 275 votes to 218.
A Tory source said the government was considering “options” on an Afghan exemption.
The Lords also agreed to a measure by the crossbench peer David Hope requiring Rwanda to pass an independent verification before it was considered safe.
The amendment by Lord Hope, a former head of the Scottish judiciary, has significant support within the Lords, especially among crossbenchers. It is understood that he is expected to table a narrower amendment, which could gain more support across the Lords.
Ministers have so far resisted offering any concessions apart from a minor proposal for an annual report on the impact of the bill on victims of modern slavery and trafficking.
Parliamentary ping-pong between the Commons and the Lords could continue late into Wednesday night. If the matter is not settled, the bill is expected to return to parliament on Monday.
