In five words, the ERG shows how bloody the Rwanda bill war may become | Politics | News

The Rwanda bill is the flagship measure in Rishi Sunak’s campaign to stop the boats, with the Prime Minister hailing it as the « toughest piece of migration legislation ever put forward by a UK Government ».

However, increasing numbers of Tory MPs are unconvinced. Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick led the charge in warning that the legislation does not go far enough.

Now the European Research Group has fuelled the fires of rebellion with their own verdict on Mr Sunak’s proposal, labelling it a « partial and incomplete solution » to the problem of illegal migration.

Tory MPs are not discussing until tonight how they’ll vote on the legislation, but they are unlikely to be helpful given the blistering verdict from the Brexiteer group’s legal eagles.

Over ten pages, the ERG’s experts explain why they fear the bill needs to look « very different » to be fit for purpose. But I have highlighted the four words in their verdict that give the biggest clue how savage the legislative guerilla warfare could become.

« Resolving, comprehensively, the issues raised by this analysis would require very significant amendments, some of which would potentially be outside the current title’s scope, and the final Bill would look very different. »

« Outside the current title’s scope » will not get many pulses racing.

But it is a sign of two significant issues for Mr Sunak, who insists the bill goes as far as possible.

Firstly, it shows how deep the concern is among Brexiteers about the Rwanda bill, given that they fear it would need a far greater rewrite than is appropriate in the legislative process.

As former Commons clerk Eliot Wilson puts it to me: « The scope of a bill is a rough guide to what amendments are in order. So for this bill, you would expect appropriate amendments to focus on Rwanda rather than – say- the ECHR in general. It can be changed, but not very easily. »

That is why ERG chairman Mark Francois has urged ministers to « pull the bill » because it has « so many holes in it ».

Secondly, it shows that we can expect MPs to try and string up the Rwanda bill like Christmas tree with amendments over the coming weeks.

Many readers will remember how John Bercow regularly infuriated Brexiteers with his penchant for ignoring their preferred amendments while indulging Remainer demands.

After winning the battle for Brexit, the ERG has now set its sights on the Rwanda bill.

With Brexiteers threatening to test the limits with their demands, the Rwanda bill could soon be the subject of all-our war on the Tory benches.