Bury's two MPs have opened up on the reasons behind their votes on Tuesday night's Rwanda immigration bill.
Bury North Conservative MP James Daly voted in favour of the bill while Bury South Labour MP Christian Wakeford opted against it.
The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill passed its second reading with 313 MPs voting for it compared to 270 against, backing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's plans.
Although Mr Sunak avoided losing the vote, many Tory MPs who did not agree with the policy abstained in voting, including former Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Ahead of the vote, MPs on the Tory right continued to insist they could not support the Bill in its current form as it left too much room for legal challenges to migrants being removed to Rwanda.
Meanwhile, Tory centrists in the One Nation camp agreed to support the Bill but warned they would oppose future amendments that would breach the rule of law and the UK’s international obligations.
But Mr Daly said he supports the government's proposals and believes a "deterrent" such as the Rwanda policy is needed to help stop people crossing the English Channel in boats.
Read more: Building in Burrs Country Park to be used to house homeless families
He said: "At this moment in time there are thousands of people in northern France waiting to cross the Channel.
“This country needs a robust set of measures to address this, including a deterrent which the Rwanda policy clearly is.
“People across Bury are sick and tired of seeing boats filled with young men landing on our shores and I support our government in trying to stop it despite Labour’s attempts to block it.
“Labour has no plan outside of vague calls for international cooperation which certainly will not work.
“This government however will take the action needed to tackle illegal immigration.”
Read more: Young people from Bury celebrated at Believe and Achieve awards
On the other hand, Mr Wakeford said the immigration scheme is failing and has cost the British taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds already.
He said: “The Tories are in total chaos about this failing scheme which has cost the British taxpayer £300m already with more promised even though not a single asylum seeker has been sent.
“Every new detail of their plan is more farcical than the last.
“More Home Secretaries than asylum seekers have been sent to Rwanda and even if they do get it off the ground it will only cover less than one per cent of people arriving in the country or people in asylum hotels, making it astronomically expensive and the Home Office Permanent Secretary says there is no evidence it will work as a deterrent.”
Read more: More than 140 cannabis plants found in morning raid
Mr Wakeford also said Britain cannot afford the scheme and that it is a distraction from action that is needed to stop criminal gangs and boat crossings.
He added: “Last week we learned about secret payments of an additional £150m, which ministers tried to hide, meaning almost £300m of taxpayer’s money has now been spent on this failing scheme which hasn’t sent a single asylum seeker to Rwanda.
“That’s £100m for each Home Secretary visit to Rwanda!
“How many more blank cheques will Rishi Sunak write before he comes clean about this scheme being a total farce?
“It’s time they admitted that this deal is just a costly and damaging distraction from the serious action needed to stop criminal gangs and stop boat crossings.
“They should have spent that money on Labour’s serious plan to crack down on criminal gangs with a new cross border police unit and to clear the backlog, and end asylum hotel use to save the taxpayer more than £2bn.”
Mr Sunak said the victory in the Commons for the Bill would pave the way for him to deliver his pledge of stopping boats of migrants from crossing the Channel.
After the result, he tweeted: “The British people should decide who gets to come to this country – not criminal gangs or foreign courts.
“That’s what this Bill delivers.
“We will now work to make it law so that we can get flights going to Rwanda and stop the boats.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel