Robert Jenrick, the UK’s immigration minister, resigned in protest against legislation requiring migrants to be sent to Rwanda.
Jenrich’s resignation threw Britain’s ruling Conservative Party into chaos on Wednesday, as hardliners turned on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The UK leader’s position appeared increasingly shaky after Jenrick announced his resignation owing to “strong disagreements with the direction” of the government’s immigration policy.
The shocking resignation occurred when Rwanda threatened to withdraw from an agreement to welcome migrants if the UK did not follow international law.
In a bad day for the British PM, former hardline interior minister Suella Braverman also offered Sunak an ultimatum to get stricter on immigration or face likely defeat in the next general election.
Jenrick quit when Sunak’s administration issued emergency legislation to guarantee Rwanda is regarded a safe place, following a ruling by UK Supreme Court judges last month that it was not.
Jenrick described the planned regulations as “a triumph of hope over experience” in his resignation letter to the prime minister.
“The stakes for the country are too high for us not to pursue the stronger protections required to end the merry-go-round of legal challenges which risk paralysing the scheme and negating its intended deterrent,” he said in a statement.
This was interpreted as a reference to Sunak’s unwillingness to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Convention on Human Rights.
When examining deportation cases, the bill proposes giving ministers the authority to disregard portions of the UK Human Rights Act and the ECHR.
However, some right-wing Conservatives, including Braverman, want Sunak to withdraw from the ECHR entirely.
Braverman, who was fired last month after a series of controversial comments, previously warned parliament that the government needs to go further to combat “mass, uncontrolled, illegal immigration.”
Among her demands was that “all routes” of judicial challenges to deportations be blocked in order to get deportation aircraft to Rwanda in time for the election next year.
She has become a prominent Tory right wing cheerleader and is said to be positioning herself as a future leader if Sunak is forced to resign following the nationwide vote.
In popularity polls, the Conservatives trail the main opposition Labour Party, which must hold an election by January 2025.
Former Attorney General Braverman has previously argued for stricter measures and criticized the UN Convention on Refugees and European human rights legislation for impeding the government’s intentions.
Her latest remarks are a red meat to fellow firebrands who see complete control of Britain’s borders as the final piece of the Brexit puzzle.
“The Conservative party faces electoral oblivion in a matter of months if it introduces yet another bill destined to fail,” she told the House of Commons.
She warned the Conservatives that they either “fight for sovereignty or let our party die,” adding ominously, “I refuse to sit by and watch us fail.”
Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta, who signed a new bilateral treaty on migrants with Braverman’s successor James Cleverly on Tuesday, warned that any violation of world rules might lead to Rwanda’s withdrawal from the agreement.
“Without the UK’s lawful behavior, Rwanda would be unable to continue with the Migration and Economic Development Partnership,” he continued, referring to the contentious agreement.
Cleverly argued in parliament that the UK and Rwanda were “both completely committed” to the alliance, adding that London’s planned legislation put “the safety of Rwanda beyond legal doubt.”
The first deportees were scheduled to be deported to Rwanda in June of last year, but were forced to cancel their trip at the last minute after a European Court of Human Rights judge filed an injunction.
Since then, their cases — and the policy’s overall constitutionality — have been bogged down in the courts, undermining Sunak’s commitment to “stop the boats.”
This year, about 30,000 unauthorized migrants have crossed the Channel from northern France in crude watercraft.
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s home affairs spokesman, said the UK government was in “total chaos.”
“This is the desperate dying days of a party ripping itself apart, clearly totally out of ideas, lost any sense of leadership or direction,” she told parliament.