PROPOSALS that could allow the government to deal with asylum-seekers in another country have been reinstated into the Nationality & Borders Bill despite a small Tory rebellion. 

MPs rejected an amendment by peers to remove the measure from the Bill, voting 302 to 232 in a Commons debate today afternoon. 

It was one of a series of proposals put back into the widely condemned legislation, undoing efforts by the Lords to remove the most damaging elements of the Bill. 

Ahead of the vote, several Tory MPs, including former cabinet ministers, spoke out in the Commons against the creation of offshore processing centre for asylum-seekers.

Tory MP David Davis warned the proposals would be a “moral, economic and practical failure,” and an “unmitigated disaster.” 

Citing rights abuses at Australia’s offshore processing centre in Papua New Guinea, including child suicide attempts and sexual abuse by guards of children, he told MPs: “We cannot risk creating a similar situation here.”

Former Tory cabinet member Andrew Mitchell told the Commons it would be much cheaper to accommodate asylum-seekers in the Ritz and send the children to Eton than processing them offshore.

Ahead of the vote, he urged fellow Tories to reject the proposal as it would leave taxpayers with “unprecedented costs.”

Defending the proposals, Home Office minister Tom Pursglove said there was a “clear rationale for the policy,” which is to “disincentivise” people from making dangerous journeys. 

The minister denied claims that the government was considering sending asylum-seekers to Ascension Island. 

Grilling on the potential impact of the Bill on Ukrainian refugees, Mr Pursglove conceded that people fleeing the country could face jail if they entered Britain “illegally” under the new plans. 

MPs also voted to reinstate powers to deprive people of their British citizenship without notice, rejecting an amendment by peers to remove the provision by 318 votes to 223.

A proposal to treat asylum-seekers differently based on their means of arrival to Britain was also voted back into the Bill by 318 to 220.

Efforts to give asylum-seekers the right to work after six months were also rejected by 291 votes to 232. The move was voted down despite strong cross-party support, with 66 Tory MPs backing the amendment in a letter earlier this week. 

Earlier in the debate, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell warned the work ban was forcing asylum-seekers into poverty and, in some instances, into criminality. 

“All this amendment that was put forward was saying was just allow these people to work,” he told MPs.

“Allow them to just be able to support themselves and their families, and give something back to this country.”

The government did however concede an amendment to grant descendants of exiled Chagos Islanders a new route to British citizenship.