The Conservative peer said ‘the job of the Lords is to ensure that the loose ends of the bill are tightened up’
It is not certain that the Rwanda Bill will be passed by the House of Lords, former Conservative minister Lord Marland has said.
He told GB News: “The Conservatives do not have a majority in the Lords. This is obviously fundamental to Conservative policy. I suspect most conservatives will vote with it, but we do not have a majority.
“There are a lot of lawyers, lawyers love to go through the detail. And in truth there is detail that is not satisfied yet, particularly the what if scenario of when a refugee or an immigrant gets to Rwanda.”
In a discussion with Tom Harwood and Emily Carver, he said: “What are the protections they have in the courts there? What is the legal procedure when they get there, what rights of appeal do they have? All those sorts of things, which the Government has volunteered already that are going to be fundamental to this bill, but have done nothing about it.
“And that is the job of the Lords, to ensure that the loose ends of the bill are tightened up. So I suspect there'll be a lot of debate around that.
“I sit on the International Treaties Committee so…obviously I know what's going on. We've had several committee meetings on this subject, we hope to ratify this bill, subject to these particular issues.
“Lord Goldsmith, who's chairman of the committee, will be asking some probing questions on Monday so you'll be able to get a feel of how this is going on Monday and the direction of travel.”
He added: “I hope my colleagues in the House on all sides of the chamber will look at it thoroughly, make the necessary adjustments, which I'm sure the Prime Minister will acquiesce to, if they're fair and reasonable, and then pass it through.”
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