Douglas Ross says he will support Rishi Sunak's Rwanda law

The Prime Minister says his new bill will reverse everything that has so far prevented flights to Rwanda from taking off

Douglas Ross says he will be backing the UK Government’s new bill declaring Rwanda a safe destination for asylum seekers.

The Scottish Conservative leader and Moray MP says he will be supporting the bill when it gets debated in Westminster, saying “far too many lives [are] lost in the English Channel”.

In an emergency news conference Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said his government’s new immigration law will “restore people’s trust that the system is fair”.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross. Image: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images.

He says the bill overturns every reason that has been used so far to prevent flights taking off for Rwanda.

He said: “The only extremely narrow exception will be if you can prove with credible and compelling evidence that you specifically have a real and imminent risk of serious and irreversible harm.”

This comes after Robert Jenrick quit as immigration minister in response to Mr Sunak’s latest policy on Rwanda.

Mr Sunak then split the role into two, and appointed Michael Tomlinson as illegal migration minister, and Tom Pursglove as legal migration minister.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Image: James Manning/Press Association.

Speaking to journalists at the Scottish Parliament, Mr Ross said: “It’s absolutely vital that we use every policy available to prevent people from making an extremely dangerous crossing - we see far too many lives lost in the English Channel.

“That’s why the Prime Minister has looked at the ruling from the Supreme Court, he’s looked at the legislation that can be brought through the UK Parliament to deter people from making that dangerous crossing, from putting their life at risk and also to ensure the people that benefit from this currently - the people smugglers - that route is stopped from them.”

First Minister Humza Yousaf added the UK Government’s immigration plan is a “real dark day” for the country.

Mr Yousaf’s grandfather came to Scotland from Pakistan in the 1960s.

Speaking at first minister’s questions, Mr Yousaf said: “It’s a real dark day for the UK - a country that once welcomed immigrants, including my grandfather to the country, in fact, begged him to come and others to come to work in their factories, to drive buses, due to the labour shortages that were seen at that time.”

He added: “What successive UK governments have done - Labour and Conservatives - is they have, bit by bit, dismantled our immigration and indeed our asylum processes.

“On immigration, the latest announcements mean that we’re asking - the UK Government is asking - migrants to come here and look after our own family members but doing so by abandoning their own family members back home.

“On asylum, the UK Government has virtually eliminated any practical legal route for those that are fleeing war or persecution.

“The policies of the UK Government in this respect are not only morally repugnant, but they are economically illiterate.

“The SNP, the Scottish Government, values migration.

“We value the importance of it to our social fabric but also to our economy, and let me say unequivocally that in Scotland, the Scottish Government will always say that we are proud of the benefits that migrants bring to this country, and we are proud that they have chosen Scotland to be their home.”