Sunak unveils his ‘emergency legislation’ on Rwanda

Three weeks after the Prime Minister’s ‘emergency legislation’ to make the Rwandan scheme viable, tonight it is finally here. The seven-page Bill was published shortly before Rishi Sunak’s address to the 1922 Committee and James Cleverly’s statement to the House of Commons.

The Bill’s solution to the Supreme Court verdict last month is to disapply elements of the Human Rights Act which would have exposed the government to legal challenges, while also declaring in law that Rwanda is a ‘safe country.’ It will let ministers override European Court of Human Rights edicts to block planes from taking off – like the so-called ‘pyjama injunctions’ of June 2022. However, it stops short of leaving the convention and does not include ‘notwithstanding clauses’ that would allow ministers to ignore the ECHR and other international treaties in the area of asylum.

The Bill’s publication comes barely two hours after Suella Braverman’s speech in parliament, which now looks less likely to make the front pages of many newspapers tomorrow.