A group of people are brought in to Dungeness, Kent, onboard the RNLI Lifeboat following a small boat incident in the Channel
PRITI PATEL’S attack on asylum rights has suffered a second round of setbacks in the House of Lords, with campaigners saying that the defeats show her legislation to be “unworkable.”
Peers rejected Tory plans to divide asylum-seekers into two classes based on their means of arrival in Britain, as well as a proposal to criminalise the act of arriving in the country without permission.
They also voted down a measure in the widely condemned Nationality and Borders Bill that would open the door to offshore processing of asylum-seekers.
In addition, an amendment allowing asylum-seekers to work after six months in this country was reinstated, as was a provision permitting child refugees in Europe to reunite with a family member in Britain.
The government lost 12 votes in total after the Bill returned to the House of Lords on Monday evening for the latest round of parliamentary ping-pong between the two chambers.
Some of the most contentious elements of the Bill had already been rejected by peers, only for them to be reinstated by the Tory majority in the Commons last month.
Campaigners expressed relief today at peers sticking to their guns on the Bill.
Amnesty International UK refugee and migrant rights director Steve Valdez-Symonds said: “The Lords have given the government yet another opportunity to recognise what we can all see: that asylum policy as set out in this Bill is completely unworkable, out of step with reality and incompatible with the UK’s moral and legal obligations.”
Freedom from Torture chief executive Sonya Sceats said that by standing firm, peers had placed themselves on the “right side of history.”
She said: “It is impossible to understate the global shockwaves that this cruel Bill would cause if the government gets its way.
“As the Bill returns to the House of Commons, Conservative MPs will need to decide whether to listen to their consciences or instead support the toxic, anti-refugee ideology promoted by Home Secretary Priti Patel.”
The legislation will now return to the Commons, but time is running short, since Parliament is expected to be prorogued later this month.
