The prime minister wouldn’t put a number on how many asylum seekers he intended to send to Rwanda to have their claims processed.

But Rishi Sunak‘s news conference on Monday left no doubt this is the policy on which he is staking his premiership.

He didn’t talk today about the odd flight getting off the ground. Instead, he talked about a regular rhythm of flights beginning in July, deporting perhaps thousands of migrants.

Politics live: Lords vote for amendment to government’s Rwanda bill again

He refused to give us a number of how many people he wanted to send to Rwanda but doubled down on his promises.

When I asked him whether passing his Safety of Rwanda bill was a moment of success, he immediately replied that “success is when the boats have been stopped, that is what the country expects”.

It seems a near-impossible task.

Boat crossings this year have risen 25% against 2023, with 6,265 people, and there is obvious scepticism as to whether flights to Rwanda would really deter asylum seekers from making the crossing.

There is also plenty of scepticism that the government won’t be hamstrung by legal challenges again.

But Mr Sunak said he was “confident” the plan complied with all international obligations, hinting he would be prepared to ignore the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.

“If it ever comes to a choice between our national security – securing our borders – and membership of a foreign court, I’m of course always going to prioritise our national security,” the prime minister said.

There are still plenty of legal and political risks, but Mr Sunak was crystal clear: the flights will continue as long as the boats keep coming and he will deliver on this pledge to make the Rwanda scheme fully operational.

“The PM is on the front foot on this,” said one senior government figure. “He’s all over it and determined to deliver the policy”.

To that end, commercial flights have been organised, an airfield put on standby and 500 officials trained to escort migrants to Rwanda.

Around 2,200 detention spaces have been reserved for those the government plans to remove and 25 courtrooms reserved to deal with legal challenges to get the flights away in 10 to 12 weeks.

‘Doomed to fail’

But after all the false starts, will it really happen?

There are those on his own benches – Suella Braverman, Robert Jenrick and a couple of dozen of others – who voted against this bill and simply think it won’t work.

Lord Carlisle, the lawyer and crossbench peer, told me the prime minister “is doomed to fail”.

“The boats have not been stopped,” he said. “The number of people arriving on boats has increased, despite blanket publicity for this policy the government is trying to push through.

“The way you stop the boats is dealing with the criminal gangs and by the government increasing the administrators that will look at which asylum seekers and refugees are dealt with. It’s not rocket science.

“What they are doing at the moment is near to the realms of fantasy.”

But for the prime minister, still so far behind in the polls, what has he got to lose?

He’s staked his reputation on this policy and has no other option to try to make it a success. Tackling small boats will be the pledge he’s judged on when the general election comes.

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Talk of flights through the summer into autumn, as well as a mooted fiscal event later in the year, point to an election in the autumn (with two senior figures telling me in recent days December is now being talked up too).

But none of this comes in time for the more imminent ballot box test of next week’s local elections, which could not only put him back on his heels, but into freefall once more.

He clearly has the plan, whether he will have the political space to implement it is another matter

The House of Lords has pushed the government’s Rwanda Bill back to the Commons again as a row continues over the controversial plan to “stop the boats”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters on Monday that “enough is enough”, promising the legislation would pass its final parliamentary stages this evening, “no matter how late it goes”.

But peers are now testing this pledge, insisting MPs take another look at one of the changes they want implemented to the bill – which aims to see asylum seekers making Channel crossings deported to the African nation – for the fifth time.

Politics live: Follow the latest from parliament as MPs and peers vote on Rwanda bill

Ministers made a concession earlier on Labour peer Lord Browne’s proposal that sought to ensure asylum seekers who had worked with British armed forces abroad were not deported – with the government promising to reassess all those from Afghanistan whose claims had been rejected under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme.

Home Office minister Lord Sharpe told the chamber: “The government recognises the commitment and responsibility that comes with combat veterans, whether our own or those who have shared courage by serving alongside us, and we will not let them down.”

But there was no compromise on offer for Lord Hope’s amendment, which would require an independent body to rule Rwanda as a “safe country”, rather than just declaring it in law – and peers backed his call by 240 votes to 211.

Crossbencher Lord Anderson, who was representing his colleague in the debate, said: “In a less frenetic political environment, this common sense amendment or something very like it could, I am sure, have been hammered out between sensible people around a table.

“Sadly, that does not appear to be the world that we are in.”

The embattled bill will now head to the Commons where, due to the government’s majority, the peer’s proposal is likely to be rejected by MPs – unless ministers make a further concession.

It will then return to the Lords for a second time later tonight where peers will have to decide whether to dig their heels in once more, or finally give their approval to the bill.

Both Houses will need to agree to the legislation before it can become law, and voting could continue into the early hours of Tuesday morning before a conclusion is reached.

The Rwanda plan, first announced by Boris Johnson two years ago, has seen millions already paid to the country to set up facilities to house asylum seekers, but no one has been sent there yet.

However, Mr Sunak insisted that after it became law, the first flights would take off in 10 to 12 weeks, and would then act as a deterrent against people making the dangerous journey in small boats.

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The prime minister blamed Labour peers for the delays, following multiple rounds of so-called “ping pong” between the two Houses.

But he has faced trouble from his own side too, with Tory MPs on the right insisting the law won’t be tough enough, and more centrist Conservative peers criticising its methods.

The scheme has also faced legal hurdles, with the UK’s Supreme Court ruling it unlawful last November.

But the prime minister believes his changes to the legislation – which include stating in law that Rwanda is a “safe country” and introducing a treaty with the nation – will ensure its future.

The prime minister has said the first deportation flights to Rwanda will leave “in 10 to 12 weeks”, hours before MPs are due to vote on his emergency legislation.

Rishi Sunak said teams across the government were “working flat out to deliver this genuine game changer” – with an airfield on standby and booked commercial charter planes to get the first flights off to the African nation.

“No ifs, no buts, these flights are going to Rwanda,” the prime minister vowed.

Mr Sunak was speaking at a press conference in Downing Street just hours before MPs and peers vote on his emergency legislation, possibly well into the evening.

The controversial bill returns to the Commons following several rounds of parliamentary ping-pong, which has seen the Lords express their opposition to the proposals through a series of amendments the prime minister does not accept.

Politics latest: Rwanda deportations will start ‘come what may’

Mr Sunak vowed last week that today would be the day the bill finally got through parliament, telling reporters there would be “no more prevarication, no more delay”.

He repeated that assertion today, telling journalists: “Enough is enough”, adding: “Parliament will sit there tonight and vote no matter how late it goes.”

The prime minister described his plan – which will see asylum seekers who arrive in the UK via irregular means sent to Rwanda instead – as an “indispensable deterrent ” that removes the incentive for people to make the dangerous Channel crossing.

He declined to give operational details due to the “loud minority of people who will do absolutely anything and everything to disrupt this policy from succeeding” – but promised there would be a “regular rhythm” of “multiple flights a month through the summer and beyond”.

After promising that the first flight would take off in 10 to 12 weeks, which he said was later than he would have liked, he took aim at the Labour Party, whom he accused of blocking the bill in the Lords with their series of amendments.

Asked by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby whether the bill’s likely passage would be a “moment of success” for him, Mr Sunak replied: “Success is when the boats have been stopped. That’s what the country expects, that’s what the government and I are committed to delivering.”

While he refused to go into “sensitive” operations details, the prime minister did outline a number of measures the government was taking to prepare for the first flights to take off.

He said there were now 2,200 detention spaces and that 200 dedicated caseworkers had been trained to process claims quickly.

Around 25 courtrooms have been made available and 150 judges will provide 5,000 sitting days, he added.

Mr Sunak also said there were 500 “highly trained individuals ready to escort illegal migrants all the way to Rwanda, with 300 more trained in the coming week”.

Sunak is desperate to be heard – but is the public listening anymore?

Mhari Aurora

Political correspondent

@MhariAurora

Desperate to convince voters he and his party can still be trusted to “stop the boats”, the prime minister stood at the podium in Downing Street with that very slogan slapped on the front of it.

But is that slogan a reminder of a promise, or a reminder of a failure?

Calling a press conference to tell us all what you are going to do to get this policy off the ground may seem rather unnecessary, but it is a warning shot to the Lords who have continued to stop the bill becoming law due to their concerns around its legality and protection of vulnerable people.

Mr Sunak insists flights will take off in 10-12 weeks from now, and that lawyers, judges and even courtrooms have been prepared to deal with legal challenges and obstacles to getting flights off to Rwanda.

However, even if flights do take off, is the public even listening anymore?

Public apathy and loss of trust could be Mr Sunak’s biggest hurdle to climb even if this embattled prime minister can prove he can make Suella Braverman’s dream a reality.

“This is one of the most complex operational endeavours the Home Office has carried out,” Mr Sunak said. “But we are ready, plans are in place and these flights will go, come what may.”

And in a dig at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which blocked the first flight to Rwanda from taking off in the summer of 2022 with one of its rulings, the prime minister said: “No foreign court will stop us from getting flights off.”

Hinting that he could be prepared to leave the ECHR – a key demand of some on the right, including former home secretary Suella Braverman – Mr Sunak said he would prioritise “national security” over “membership of a foreign court”.

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper branded the Rwanda scheme “extortionate” and denied Labour had blocked the bill in the Lords.

“The government has an overall majority in parliament and could have passed this bill a month ago if they had scheduled it then, but as we know Rishi Sunak always looks for someone else to blame,” she told broadcasters.

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“This is costing the taxpayer half-a-billion pounds for a scheme that will only cover 1% of asylum seekers.

“This is an extortionate scheme. They should be putting that money into boosting our border security instead. That is what Labour would do.”

Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said following the press conference: “No amount of sound bites or spin can change the fact that the Conservative’s Rwanda scheme is a colossal failure.

“Millions of pounds and years of government attention have already been wasted, with absolutely nothing to show for it.

“It’s time for Rishi Sunak to get a grip, get to the palace and give this country the election it is crying out for.”