Welby preaches to the converted in House of Lords over Rwanda bill

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, was preaching to the converted.

To a majority of members of the House of Lords, the government’s Rwanda bill is an unholy abomination.

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Last week, their lordships voted by 214 votes to 171, a majority of 43, to delay ratification of the Rwanda treaty until safeguards had been implemented.

And in his speech during the second reading debate on the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, Mr Welby accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of a “pick and choose approach” to international law.

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The archbishop began his speech by telling peers the heart of the Christian tradition was that strangers were welcomed.

“Jesus said ‘I was a stranger and you invited me in’,” he said.

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And there were loud cries of “hear, hear!” from around the Lords’ chamber when the archbishop declared: “We can as a nation do better than this bill.”

He went on: “With this bill, the government is continuing to seek good objectives in the wrong way, leading the nation down a damaging path.

“It is damaging for asylum seekers in need of protection and safe and legal routes to be heard.

“It is damaging for this country’s reputation, which it contradicts even as late as last week where the prime minister himself spoke eloquently on the value and importance of international law for this country.”

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No-one could accuse the archbishop of contradicting himself on this issue. He led opposition in the Lords to the Illegal Migration Bill, which resulted in a series of defeats for the government.

He has previously described the Rwanda policy as “against the judgement of God”, and he served notice in this debate that he’s prepared to play a full part in their lordships’ attempts to pull the bill apart in the coming weeks.

He ended his speech by saying that he would not be voting for an amendment proposed by Liberal Democrat peer Lord German to vote down the bill at this point, though he found the argument for it “convincing and powerful”.

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Lord German’s amendment, which Labour won’t be supporting either, declines to give the bill a second reading for five reasons:

• It places the UK at risk because it breaches international commitments;
• It undermines the rule of law;
• It will lead to substantial costs to taxpayers;
• It fails to provide safe and legal routes for refugees;
• It fails to include measures to tackle people smuggling gangs.

Without Labour support, the Lib Dem amendment has no chance of being passed.

But, ominously for the government, Mr Welby said he wanted to wait until third reading, after amendments have been made to the bill, before taking a decision on whether or not it should pass.

Mr Sunak has urged peers not to block “the will of the people”.

But the archbishop’s argument, essentially, is that the will of God trumps the will of the people.

And many of their lordships appear to agree.

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