Rishi Sunak's divisive Rwanda Bill finally cleared Parliament in the early hours of the morning after months of damaging deadlock.
Peers in the House of Lords dropped their resistance after Tory MPs voted down a string of demands. The PM has survived weeks of rebellion from his own benches, with former Home Secretary Suella Braverman yesterday branding the legislation "fatally flawed". The Government is now braced for a raft of legal challenges before flights can start taking off, with campaigners vowing to fight on.
As the Safety of Rwanda Bill finally passed through the House of Lords shortly after midnight, Green Party peer Baroness Bennett said: "Now we are letting through an attack on some of the most desperate people on the planet."
The Government claims the latest legislation - forced through to get around a Supreme Court ruling that Rwanda isn't safe for asylum seekers - will narrow the grounds for appeal. But high profile right-wingers including Ms Braverman and former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick claim it doesn't go far enough.
They were among 39 Tory MPs who didn't vote on a crunch evening for the PM, while two Conservatives - former Justice Minister Sir Robert Buckland and Sir Jeremy Wright - rebelled. Experts warned that getting the Bill through Parliament was the "easy part", with the Home Office now set to face a wave of court challenges.
Marley Morris, associate director at think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), said:“Getting the Safety of Rwanda bill passed was the easy part. Now the government faces an array of logistical and legal hurdles to making the Rwanda plan work in practice.
“From dealing with individual legal challenges to ensuring Rwanda has enough housing capacity for arrivals, the Home Office has its work cut out for it. At this stage, the prospects of the Rwanda plan operating at scale seem distant.”
Mr Sunak was forced to admit yesterday that his pledge to send asylum seekers to east Africa by the spring won't happen. The Bill, which was first put forward in November after the Supreme Court decision, has been defeated four times in the House of Lords in recent weeks. Peers demanded a series of changes to the flagship legislation, but finally admitted defeat as MPs refused to budge.
Demands rejected by Tory MPs last night included a call for Afghan nationals who helped British forces fighting the Taliban to be exempt from deportation. MPs also threw out a Lords amendment that would have seen an independent body assess whether the east African nation is actually safe for asylum seekers before flights take off.
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The Government was accused of debasing itself by forcing through Mr Sunak's new laws. And Labour frontbencher Stephen Kinnock branded it a "post-truth Bill".
Mr Sunak told a press conference on Monday that he hopes to get the first wave of asylum seekers on flights to East Africa in "10 to 12 weeks" - meaning they'd start in July. But a bungling minister let slip the secret date for the first deportation flight could be sooner after they left documents lying around in Downing Street.
Following Mr Sunak's address a Tory frontbencher inadvertently left behind a briefing document showing the actual plan is for the flights to begin in June.
It stated: "The first charter flight to Rwanda is provisionally scheduled for June (please protect)." Ministers who attended a press conference with the PM were Deputy Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell, Immigration Minister Michael Tomlinson, Home Secretary James Cleverly, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and Attorney General Victoria Prentis.
Last night Tories were branded "shameful" as they rejected protections for Afghan war heroes who helped UK troops. Labour Shadow Immigration Minister Mr Kinnock told the Commons: "We owe a debt of gratitude to the Afghans who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our troops.
"And yet this Government is seeking to try to trash our reputation as a country that honours its debts. What a disgrace." Ministers claimed that the measure was not needed as Afghans who helped UK forces can already come to the UK legally.
In the Lords independent crossbencher Lord Anderson of Ipswich pressed for an independent body to probe whether Rwanda is delivering on promises. He accused the Government of debasing itself by pushing ahead with the Bill.
Lord Anderson told peers: "We are in the end game now. We will, this week, have a law that provides for the offshore processing and settlement of asylum seekers in Rwanda.
"Its benefits remain to be seen. It costs will be measured, not only in money, but in principles debased: disregard for our international commitments, avoiding statutory protections for the vulnerable, and the removal of judicial scrutiny over the core issue of the safety of Rwanda."
The PM said that planes would take off "come what may", adding: “No ifs, no buts. These flights are going to Rwanda."
He said that several flights will go every month. Yesterday a team of United Nations experts warned that airlines involved in the Rwanda project could be held responsible for any breaches of international human rights law.
Defending the scheme, deputy Foreign Secretary Mr Mitchell claimed the capital of Rwanda is safer than London. Mr Mitchell said discussions in the House of Lords about judicial arrangements have been "patronising" and at times "border on racism".
He claimed: “If you look at the statistics, Kigali is actually safer than London.” Campaign groups warned ministers the fight isn't over.
Following the Bill's passage, Kolbassia Haoussou, of charity Freedom from Torture, said: "Survivors have been at the forefront of campaigns urging the Government to change direction. And we’re not going to stop now."
Official figures published yesterday show the number of asylum seekers arriving in Britain in small boats has risen by a quarter since last year.
Between January 1 and April 21, 6,265 people came compared to 5,049 in the same period last year.