'It's time to start the flights!' Rishi Sunak issues warning to unelected Lords not to meddle in his plan

Giving a press conference in Downing Street, he vowed to deliver on the Rwanda plan, saying: "It is past time to start the flights".

He said: “There is now only one question.

WATCH: Rwanda bill passes in Parliament 

“Will the opposition in the appointed House of Lords try and frustrate the will of the people as expressed by the elected House, or will they get on board and do the right thing?

“It’s as simple as that.”

The Prime Minister insisted that last night's vote, which saw his bill pass its third reading by 320 votes to 276, showed the Conservative Party was “completely united”.

He said: “The Conservative Party last night demonstrated that they are completely united in wanting to stop the boats. This Bill passed with an overwhelming majority in Parliament.”

Just 11 Conservative MPs rebelled to vote against the legislation last night.

When asked if he can guarantee that flights will take off to Rwanda by Easter, Sunak said: "The question really is for the House of Lords. And the question is, will the House of Lords understand the country's frustration, see the will of the elected House and move as quickly as we have to support this legislation so we can get it on the statute books, and then get flights up and running."

The Prime Minister said he wants to see flights taking off "as soon as practically possible", adding that the Government is "not messing around because we're also frustrated and fed up".

He said he "shares the frustration of the British people" and wants to "end this legal merry-go-round".

New polling from YouGov, published yesterday, showed that 2019 Conservative voters have little faith in the Prime Minister's ability to deal with immigration.

Just 35 per cent of respondents said they trust him on the issue. But 54 per cent said they trust Nigel Farage on the issue.

The survey found that support for the PM's party has fallen to just 20 per cent, a level not seen in Sunak's time as Prime Minister.

Approval ratings last hit this level in October 2022, just before Liz Truss was forced out of office.

The polling shows that Labour now has a 27-point lead over the Conservatives.

The press conference also saw the Prime Minister say he is willing to ignore orders from the European Court of Human Rights, even if this breached international law, but declined to say in what circumstances he would do so.

Asked if he would overrule so-called rule 39 injunctions from the Strasbourg Court in order to get flights off to Rwanda, he said: “I’ve been crystal clear repeatedly that I won’t let a foreign court stop us from getting flights off and getting this deterrent up and running.

“The Bill specifically contains a power that makes it clear that ministers are the ones that make these decisions. Parliament has supported that. There’s also, the Bill makes expressly clear that the domestic courts should respect that decision.

“Very simply, we would not have that clause, I would not have put that clause in the Bill, if I was not prepared to use it.

“So, if you’re asking me are there circumstances in which I will ignore rule 39s, then the answer is clearly yes.”

The YouGov poll, conducted on behalf of the Times, spoke to 2,092 adults on January 16 and 17.