Bolton West MP Chris Green rebels on Rwanda amendment

The MPs rebelled against their party leadership to vote for changes to the proposed bill, which aimed to make sure UK or international law could not be used to stop people being deported to Rwanda.

One of the rebels was Bolton West MP Chris Green.

He said: “There was a significant vote to try and close down some of the loopholes which were used to try and make it more difficult to send people to Rwanda.

“A couple of years ago when Priti Patel as Home Secretary passed legislation to enable us to start using Rwanda as a country to send refugees to, the human rights lawyers were able to take every person off the flight.”

Up to 60 Conservative MPs rebelled against Rishi Sunak over the vote (Image: PA)

He added: “The purpose of our amendment was to say that Rwanda actually is a safe country generally, but also that it is a safe country for those individuals.”

The Government’s Rwanda plan aims to send migrants who cross the English Channel on small boats on one-way trips to the central African nation rather than allow them to try and stay in the UK.

So far, the policy has cost around £290million but has not succeeded in sending anyone to Rwanda after a series of challenges in the courts.

The proposed changes to the Safety of Rwanda Bill were put forward by Sir Bill Cash MP and tabled by former immigration minister Robert Jenrick and aim to make these challenges more difficult.

As well as Mr Green, the amendment was supported by senior MPs Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith, who both resigned from their positions in the Conservative Party.

Speaking last December, Mr Green said he was already concerned about whether the proposed legislation "goes far enough."

But no Conservatives voted against the bill at a second reading.

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Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame said the controversies over the bill were the “UK’s problem” not his country’s and suggested taxpayers’ money could be returned if there were no flights.

The proposed bill has also been condemned by human rights campaigners in the UK.

A statement from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said: “The Bill threatens the rule of law and undermines our human rights commitments.

“Our clients, many of whom are torture and trafficking survivors, deserve better than having their rights eroded for political gain.”

The bill is set to be debated at a third reading on Wednesday evening.