Lords don’t stop illegal migration bill

Peers rejected the bill by Liberal Democrat, Lord Paddick to stop the illegal migration bill passing through the House of Lords.

The vote stood at 179 votes to 76 giving the Lords a majority of 103.

Supporters of Lord Paddick including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby criticised the plans saying they risked “great damage” to the UK’s reputation. He also said international protections for refugees are “not inconvenient obstructions to get round by any legislative means necessary.”

The Bill, by Suella Braverman, wants to detain people who arrive in the UK in “small boats” and then remove them back to their own country or to a third country such as Rwanda. The people would then be banned from returning to Britain.

Previously the Archbishop said the plan to send migrants to Rwanda was “ungodly.” And he went on to say he didn’t think the Bill would stop the small boats from crossing the channel which he said was “morally unacceptable and politically impractical.”

Speaking to Peers Mr Welby said “We need a Bill to reform migration. We need a Bill to stop the boats. We need a Bill to destroy the evil tribe of traffickers. The tragedy is that without much change this is not that Bill.”

Another critic of the Bill was Baroness Helic. She fled to Britain from war-torn Bosnia when she was twenty-three. She argued that the Bill represented “an outright ban on asylum.” She too questioned its morality.