Watch live: Rwanda bill returns to House of Lords after MPs reject amendments

House of Lords peers face call to ‘calm down’ and allow Rwanda bill to clear parliament

Watch live as Rishi Sunak’s controversial Rwanda asylum bill returns to House of Lords on Tuesday (16 April) after MPs rejected a series of amendments.

The parliamentary “ping-pong” over the Government’s Rwanda scheme continues as peers are set to once again debate legislation declaring the east African nation safe for refugees.

The Government successfully overturned six House of Lords amendments on Monday as MPs voted to return the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill to its original form two years after the UK first announced its deal with Rwanda.

The legislation seeks to compel judges to regard Rwanda as safe in a bid to clear the way to send asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats on a one-way flight to the country.

The Bill now returns to the House of Lords, where peers could further prolong the parliamentary wrangling by making yet more changes.

It is not yet clear if the Lords will make another attempt to amend the Bill, which it has already done twice now, or if peers will concede defeat and allow the legislation through.

If peers vote to approve another series of amendments, the Bill will return to the Commons on Wednesday for more votes before once again being passed back to the Lords.

The legislation will only receive royal assent and become law once both Houses have agreed on its final wording in a process known as parliamentary ping-pong.

Among the amendments overturned by MPs on Monday were proposals to ensure the Bill has “due regard” for domestic and international law and that Rwanda is only regarded as safe for as long as the provisions of the UK’s treaty with that country are in place.

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