Peers under pressure to stop blocking Rwanda Bill as MPs prepare to overturn amendments to migrant deportation law with flights set to start 'within weeks' - as ministers consider sending Channel arrivals to Armenia, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica and Botswana

Peers are coming under increasing pressure to drop their opposition to the government’s new law to deport Channel migrants to Rwanda, with ministers hoping to start flights within weeks.

The Commons returns from Easter recess this afternoon with the legislation high on the agenda for a Tory government desperate for a boost in the polls.

MPs will this evening consider amendments to the Safety of Rwanda Bill by the House of Lords, which inflicted a series of defeats against the controversial policy before rising for the spring break.

The Government will seek to strip out changes made by peers who want extra legal safeguards, including a provision to ensure ‘due regard’ for domestic and international law.

But the Lords could decide to push their changes again, starting what is known as ‘ping-pong’ with the law passing between the Commons and the upper chamber repeatedly.

Peers were today warned not to do this, having made clear their feelings about the law. Senior Tory Sir John Hayes told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘Of course, it’s right that there is a balance between Commons and Lords and indeed between Parliament and the executive but when a government devises and wants to implement a policy which is clear and precise in terms of its objectives, the Lords shouldn’t stand in its way…

‘I think in the end the Lords will give way on this because they recognise that balance.’

It came as it was revealed ministers were examining plans to expand the deportation scheme away from east Africa, holding talks with countries including Armenia, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica and Botswana.

The Commons returns from Easter recess this afternoon with the legislation high on the agenda for a Tory government desperate for a boost in the polls.

MPs will this evening consider amendments to the Safety of Rwanda Bill by the House of Lords, which inflicted a series of defeats against the controversial policy before rising for the spring break.

They have all entered talks with the UK government in what it describes as a ‘third-country asylum processing deal’, according to The Times.

Progress has reportedly stalled with all four countries, which were priorities in a long list of potential locations, as the Rwanda scheme struggles to get off the ground after two years of legal and political wrangling.

The Foreign Office (FCDO) also considered South American states including Paraguay, Peru, Brazil and Ecuador, but suggested their governments may have less interest in signing up.

Among those on a ‘reserve list’ included Cape Verde, Senegal, Tanzania and Sierra Leone – meaning they could be approached if talks with other, more favoured targets didn’t succeed.

Concerns were expressed that issues with the Rwanda Bill could put potential candidates off, with Armenia for example said to be awaiting the outcome of the policy (capital Yerevan pictured)

However senior Tories at the weekend suggested that they have yet to find an airline to carry deported migrants to Rwanda, despite planning to begin flights within weeks.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins insisted the Home Office is ‘ready to go’ in implementing the scheme as a Bill aimed at saving the stalled deportation policy makes its way through Parliament.

But she could not confirm in media interviews today who would operate the flights. And separately, deputy Tory Party chairwoman Rachel Maclean appeared to suggest a carrier had still not been confirmed.

Ms Maclean told Times Radio: ‘I’m sure that we will have a carrier in place … and this is all part of operationalising the plan. We need this plan because we need to have the deterrent effect.’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has repeatedly said flights to Kigali will take off by spring, but refused to name a specific date.

It comes after reports suggested that Rwanda’s state-owned airline turned down a UK Government proposal to transport asylum seekers because it wanted to avoid being associated with the controversial scheme.

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