Tory rebels offered concessions on anti-asylum legislation | Immigration and asylum

Ministers are offering rebel Conservative MPs concessions on key anti-asylum legislation amid growing concern it could face defeats in the Commons.

The government is expected to limit plans to detain children and pregnant women who arrive in the UK by small boats and drop some of the retrospective applications of the illegal migration bill’s measures, the Guardian understands.

It remains unclear whether compromises will be offered to protect victims of modern slavery, as demanded by MPs including Theresa May.

The bill, which is meant to fulfil Rishi Sunak’s promise to “stop the boats”, will complete its final stage in the House of Lords with a vote on Monday night. The draft legislation returns to the House of Commons on Tuesday for MPs to consider the 20 amendments made to it by peers.

The government was expected to offer a concession to Conservative MPs opposed to the bill’s powers to detain unaccompanied children, sources confirmed. Another would also limit the time period for locking up pregnant women who cross the Channel, it is understood.

Amendments will be released by the government at 4.30pm on Monday. After MPs vote on the bill on Tuesday, it will be passed back to the Lords to decide whether the upper chamber will once again amend the bill in a process known as “ping-pong”.

Ministers are seeking to ensure that the illegal migration bill will enable the detention of asylum seekers who arrive via irregular means and their deportation to a third country such as Rwanda.

More than 1,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats in just two days, taking the yearly total to 12,503. On Saturday 384 people crossed in seven boats, with 686 people crossing in 13 boats on Friday, a new daily record for crossings.

The rise contrasts with claims made by Sunak last month that his plan was “starting to work” after pointing to figures showing year-on-year figures were down 20%.

Downing Street said the number of people using small boats to cross the Channel was “too large”. “I think we always knew that, as we move into the summer months, crossings will escalate,” the prime minister’s official spokesperson said.

“We are continuing to stop significant numbers of crossings. I still believe that you are more likely to be stopped and turned back than to make the crossing, and that’s because of the work with our French counterparts and the extra support that we have put in.

“But clearly the numbers making the journeys are still too large and that’s why we need the other elements of our ‘stop the boats’ package.”

That included both the Rwanda deal, which is the subject of a legal battle that is set to reach the supreme court, and the illegal migration bill, which has suffered a mauling in the House of Lords.