Sunak ‘examines Braverman plan to defy human rights law’ to save Rwanda plan

Rishi Sunak is considering a plan to defy the UK Human Rights Act as part of his desperate push to stop his deportation flights from Rwanda.

It comes as the Prime Minister comes under increasing pressure from Suella Braverman and the Tories' right to flaunt international law by “breaching” the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Mr Sunak is said to be weighing some elements of Ms Braverman's hard-line plan – whom he fired earlier this week – to prevent further legal challenges to the Rwandan flights.

The Tory leader is considering an emergency bill that would consider Rwanda a “safe country” and make it clear that this overrides the Human Rights Act, according to The times.

A less controversial option is to try to label Rwanda as a “safe” country without any attempt to circumvent human rights legislation, with both possibilities said to be part of “live” discussions.

Mr Sunak's two-pronged strategy to deal with the Supreme Court ruling against the government is to announce an emergency law that he says will allow parliament to “unequivocally” declare Rwanda a safe destination for asylum seekers.

The Prime Minister will also publish an upgraded agreement with the country, which is expected to attempt to address the court's concerns about “refoulement” – the possibility that refugees rejected by Rwanda could be sent back to the country they are fleeing.

But Ms Braverman called on Mr Sunak to go further – saying she was “demanding the government stop the delusion and spin”. He wrote: “Engaging in a failed plan will not stop boats.”

He said the UK's domestic or international obligations – the Human Rights Act and the ECHR – should be made void using “notwithstanding clauses”.

Senior Tory MP Danny Kruger, co-founder of the increasingly influential New Conservative group, demanded Mr Sunak “change course or we will lose the general election”.

Writing in The Telegraphthe leading right-winger warned No 10 that failure to start the Rwanda flights could lead to an “official split” in the Conservatives and “split” the party forever.

“We need the Rwanda Emergency Bill to assert the supremacy over all laws and international treaties invoked by the Supreme Court,” Mr Kruger wrote.

“This is existential. If we get it wrong, our party will not only face rejection at the ballot box, but risk fracturing our coalition forever.”

He said Mr Sunak's response to the Supreme Court ruling “makes me worry that they are not prepared to go beyond the multitude of international and domestic laws and protocols that undermine the sovereignty of parliament”.

But Mr Sunak faces concerns about the dilemma from both sides of his party, with leading One Nation Conservative moderate Damian Green stressing the importance of upholding the rule of law.

“It's not just all our own laws passed by parliament, and all the international treaties we've signed up, that Suella wants to sweep away,” Mr Green told BBC Radio 4. Today program – before comparing Ms. Braverman to dictators.

“Conservatives believe in a democratic country governed by the rule of law. And the dictators, Xi and Putin, would prefer to have the state completely unfettered by any law. And so, as a democrat, I oppose it.”

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick is said to be backing elements of Ms Braverman's plan for Rwanda in a “belt and braces” push to get flights off the ground.

The home secretary had joined Ms Braverman in putting forward proposals in No 10, which included four of the five points she outlined this week, according to The Telegraph.

On Friday Mr Sunak denied he was “tampering” with Rwandan politics after the sacked former interior minister suggested his plan to save the project would fail without more radical measures.

Speaking to broadcasters, Mr Sunak insisted he would “work night and day” to ensure domestic courts could not “systematically” block flights to the East African nation.

Mr Sunak refused to say whether he would call a general election if the upper house blocked the new law – instead insisting it was up to Labor to help it get on the statute books.

Meanwhile, Lord Sumption, a former High Court judge, told the BBC that the plan to use a law to declare Rwanda safe was “deeply discrediting”, “constitutionally very unusual” and would “effectively nullify” a decision of the highest authority of the United Kingdom. court.

A government source said the Rwandan treaty would be published “soon”, but perhaps not as soon as Monday, as earlier reports suggested.

The independent has approached No 10 for comment and Mr Jenrick for comment.