The archbishop of Canterbury is expected to step up his opposition to the government’s illegal migration bill this week as the controversial plans are subjected to detailed scrutiny in the House of Lords.
In a highly unusual move for such a senior cleric, archbishop Justin Welby is ready to take the lead by tabling a series of amendments to legislation he has described as “morally unacceptable”, colleagues in the House of Lords say.
One source in the upper chamber said it was “extremely unusual if not unprecedented” for an archbishop to propose detailed changes to a key piece of legislation, particularly one that is so politically sensitive and central to the government’s objectives.
Rishi Sunak has said that stopping “small boats” from crossing the channel is one of his five key objectives as prime minister and believes the bill will help achieve the aim.
But speaking recently in a Lords debate on the bill, Welby said the proposals were deeply flawed as well as impractical, and could “break the system of international cooperation that promised to help those fleeing war, famine and conflict”.
The Welby amendments are likely to include measures to improve safeguards for victims of trafficking gangs, and changes to the UN’s 1951 refugee convention.
Line-by-line scrutiny of the bill begins in the Lords on Wednesday before official figures on Thursday are expected to confirm that the number of immigrants has reached a new high of at least 700,000.
The draft plans, which cleared the Commons last month, will change the law so that those who arrive in the UK without permission will not be able to stay to claim asylum but will instead be detained and removed, either to their home nation or a third country, such as Rwanda.
Responding to Welby’s criticisms earlier this month, Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, said the most senior cleric in the Church of England was “wrong”, and defended the bill’s aim of criminalising, detaining and removing people who arrive in the UK in small boats.
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The former head of the British army Sir Richard Dannatt said the bill was “vicious” and to back up his point cited the case of an Afghan pilot who had arrived in the UK on a small boat.
“The viciousness, and I use that word quite advisedly, of this bill offends many people’s moral position. It runs the risk of offending Britain’s standing in the world,” he said.
