Foreign criminals must be banned from using European human rights laws to avoid deportation, MPs will demand on Thursday as David Cameron faces one of the biggest rebellions of his premiership.
Almost 100 Conservative MPs will push the Prime Minister to curb the power of judges to block deportation when foreign criminals have a family link to Britain.
The prospect of such a large backlash increased the pressure on Downing Street to do a deal with the back benches as Tories tried to blame the Liberal Democrats for blocking a compromise.
Senior Conservatives on Wednesday sought to present a tougher line on human rights, as Theresa May, the Home Secretary, proposed a new law to allow terrorist suspects to be stripped of their British citizenship even if it left them stateless.
Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, also pledged to resist “European law mission creep”.
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28 Jan 2014Meanwhile, Mr Cameron signalled he was increasingly frustrated by the Lib Dems and had no wish to repeat their partnership after the next election, saying: “I’m not looking for another coalition, I’ve done coalition, I’ve got the T-shirt.”
MPs will debate the Immigration Bill on Thursday, and more than 40 Tories could defy Mr Cameron by backing a demand to reinstate rules preventing Romanians and Bulgarians working in the UK.
Although support for a rebel amendment on the issue was said to be fading, the row over foreign criminals continued.
A total of 104 MPs have backed an amendment to restrict the ability of foreign criminals to invoke Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights – which gives the right to a family life – when contesting deportation.
Ministers insist that the amendment, tabled by Dominic Raab, a backbencher, is impractical and unnecessary because the Immigration Bill itself contains measures to restrict Article Eight cases. To avert a major revolt, ministers were on Wednesday night considering trying to prevent Mr Raab’s amendment coming to a vote.
The Home Office has tabled dozens of amendments to the Bill and made changes to the debate timetable.
On Wednesday Mr Cameron warned his MPs that they risked delaying the Immigration Bill, which overhauls rules dealing with migrants’ access to public services and makes it harder for illegal immigrants to get bank accounts and driving licences.
One Cabinet minister told The Telegraph: “I have a lot of time for what Dominic is trying to do, but No 10 isn’t quite there yet.”
On Wednesday night a Downing Street source insisted Mr Cameron had “great sympathy” for Mr Raab’s objectives, but suggested that the Lib Dems were resisting tougher deportation rules.
Conservative ministers also want to back an amendment that would allow the Government to intervene if European migration levels become “excessive”. The Lib Dems were refusing, arguing it was potentially illegal under EU law.
One potential deal would see the parties voting on different sides to symbolise the growing distance between the two parties.
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