My Lords, it is an absolute privilege to follow the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope. There are three Motions left: B1, C1 and D1. Motion B1, as we have heard, is the parliamentary sovereignty amendment—that, if I may say so, is what the noble and learned Lord has just described. If the Bill is about restoring sovereignty to Parliament, then Parliament must have an ability to scrutinise the ongoing future safety of Rwanda. Forgive me for paraphrasing.
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Motion C1 is the rule of law amendment, which has been amended after I listened to a particular exchange last night about what would happen if the facts changed in Rwanda. Would the Secretary of State be able not to send people to Rwanda? As we have just heard once more from the noble and learned Lord, the Secretary of State’s hands are tied by this legislation. Even if the Secretary of State—or, dare I say it, a future Secretary of State—believed that the facts had changed, they would be bound by this legislation to send people to Rwanda. So I amended my amendment to take out immigration officers to avoid systemic challenges but just to allow the Secretary of State to make a judgment, and for that to be reviewed by the courts. That is the rule of law amendment.
Motion D1, in the name of my noble friend Lord Browne of Ladyton, is the debt of honour amendment—the debt to those who have paid in courage and blood for a promise that they would be looked after by the Crown that they served. Many of them are refugees in the first place only because they served this country.
Those are the three amendments. I will not be pressing the rule of law amendment because it is right for your Lordships’ House to focus on what is attainable at this stage in the process, but I take this opportunity to thank noble Lords across the House for the moral and practical leadership that they have shown in this legislation to this generation of voters and future voters. Noble Lords’ grandchildren can be proud of what they have done over this Bill.
I will not be pressing Motion B1 but I urge every noble Lord in this House to support the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead, in his parliamentary sovereignty amendment and my noble friend Lord Browne of Ladyton in the debt of honour amendment this evening.