UK illegal migration bill to become law as government sees off Lords challenge | Immigration and asylum

The UK government’s small boats and migration bill is poised to become law after it crushed a series of renewed challenges by peers at Westminster.

In a night of drama, the Conservative frontbench saw off five further changes being sought by the unelected chamber to the illegal migration bill, including modern slavery protections and child detention limits.

At least one other vote was ditched in the face of the government victories. The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, a strident critic of the bill, also dropped his demand for a statement on tackling the refugee problem and human trafficking to the UK, after a similar proposal was rejected by MPs.

The end of the standoff between Lords and MPs during so-called ping-pong, where legislation is batted between the Lords and Commons until agreement is reached, paves the way for the bill to receive royal assent.

The reforms are a key part of the prime minister Rishi Sunak’s bid to deter people from making Channel crossings. They will prevent people from claiming asylum in the UK if they arrive through unauthorised means.

The government also hopes the changes will ensure people who are detained are promptly removed, either to their home country or a third country such as Rwanda, which is the subject of a legal challenge.

The bill had encountered fierce opposition in the upper chamber, which had been accused of trying to “drive a coach and horses” through the contentious plans. In turn, the government faced claims of seeking to deliver a “punishment beating” to peers for challenging the plans.

Ministers had urged the Lords to allow the bill to become law after signalling no further concessions were planned and MPs again overturned a raft of revisions previously made by the upper chamber.

The Home Office minister Lord Murray of Blidworth said the number of small boat arrivals had “overwhelmed” the UK’s asylum system and was costing taxpayers £6m a day to provide accommodation. He told peers: “With over 45,000 people making dangerous Channel crossings last year this is simply no longer sustainable.

“If people know there is no way for them to stay in the UK, they won’t risk their lives and pay criminals thousands of pounds to arrive here illegally. It is therefore only right that we stop the boats and break the business model of the criminal gangs exploiting vulnerable people, ultimately enabling the government to have greater capacity to provide a safe haven for those at risk of war and persecution.”

He urged the Lords to “respect the will of the elected house and the British people by passing this bill”.

While he agreed on the need to stop the small boat crossings, Welby said: “I fail to see how this [the bill] does it and I have not heard anything to convince me. But that is the view of the other place. I agree that in the end on most things except the most essential that this house must give way to the other place.”

He added: “The problem with the bill is that it has not started at the right place. Where it needed to start with is … to have a level of national consensus and agreement on what the aim of our migration policy and immigration policy is in the long-term.”

The debate in parliament came as an accommodation barge set to house 500 migrants was on the move. The plans involving the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland Port, Dorset, are a month behind schedule but the vessel has finally left Falmouth, Cornwall, where work was being carried out to prepare it for its new role.

Downing Street defended the use of barges to house migrants, insisting it is a cheaper alternative to housing them in hotels. However, a recent report claimed that it would save less than £10 a person a day. The first asylum seekers are expected to board the Bibby Stockholm later this month.