'Three strikes and you're out': Robert Jenrick issues warning to PM as ex-immigration minister says Rishi Sunak's new Rwanda plan won't see flights happening and accuses No10 of making a 'political choice' to push new laws that 'don't do the job'

Robert Jenrick today issued a scathing verdict on Rishi Sunak's attempt to revive the Rwanda migrant plan as he argued flights won't take off under the PM's blueprint.

The ex-immigration minister, who quit in anger over Mr Sunak's approach to the asylum scheme, claimed the PM's emergency legislation 'doesn't do the job'. 

He confirmed he won't support the new Rwanda Bill, which is designed to overcome a Supreme Court ruling that the migration scheme is unlawful, in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Amid fresh warring between Tory factions over the new laws, Mr Jenrick claimed No10 had made 'a political choice has been made to bring forward a Bill which doesn't do the job'.

He noted how the Government had twice before tried to enact tough legislation to clamp down on the Channel migrant crisis, adding: 'It's three strikes or you're out.'

In what appeared to be a personal swipe at Mr Sunak, Mr Jenrick also warned his party colleagues to focus on 'the national interest' and not be 'concerned about our reputations on the gilded international circuit'.

Mr Jenrick's resignation as immigration minister has threatened to blow up the PM's efforts to revive the Rwanda migrant plan since it was blocked by the UK's top judges last month.

In the new Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, Mr Sunak is hoping to manoeuvre around the Supreme Court ruling, while he has also struck a new treaty with the African country.

But the proposed legislation is proving controversial with both the Tory Right, who warn it isn't tough enough to deal with fresh court challenges, and Tory moderates, who are concerned it may not comply with Britain's obligations under international law.

There is also fresh anger at the PM's approach after it was revealed the Rwanda plan is already costing £290million, despite not a single person having been sent to the country.

Mr Sunak's efforts to prevent Tory MPs rebelling on the legislation in the Commons hit another snag when it was revealed that a legal assessment has been given it only a '50 per cent at best' chance of success of getting removal flights off to Rwanda. 

Asked about that legal advice this morning, Mr Jenrick told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: 'It's not right for me to speak about private legal advice, there's a clear convention on that.

'But you've seen reporting in the press which suggests the Government's own view is that it has a relatively low likelihood of success.

'What matters here is a Bill that works. I said very directly to the PM that if he and I are going to persuade colleagues and, above all the public... that this scheme actually works, we have to be absolutely certain that it's going to succeed.

'Remember, we have already done two Bills, this is the third Bill. It's three strikes or you're out.'

The former Cabinet minister claimed it was 'very clear to all those people who really understand how this system operates that this Bill will not succeed'.

In response to the Supreme Court ruling, Mr Sunak's legislation is an attempt to push Parliament's view that Rwanda is a 'safe' country for Britain to send asylum seekers to. 

But, in a withering verdict on the PM's legislation, Mr Jenrick said: 'What will happen is that absolutely everyone who comes across on a small boat will put in a claim that Rwanda might be generally safe, but for individual reasons it's not safe for them.'

'I think a political choice has been made to bring forward a Bill which doesn't do the job,' he added.

Mr Jenrick claimed Britain did not have to leave the European Convention on Human Rights to get the Rwanda scheme up and running.

He also appeared to take a personal swipe at Mr Sunak amid claims the PM has kept an eye on his post-Downing Street career while drafting the new legislation.

'I will always put the vital national interest of this country and the views and concerns of the British public above contested notions of international law,' Mr Jenrick said.

'We're sent to Parliament to represent those people, the general public, we're not sent to Parliament to be concerned about our reputations on the gilded international circuit.'

Some have viewed Mr Jenrick's resignation from Government as part of a effort to position himself on the Tory Right ahead of a future Conservative leadership contest, should Mr Sunak lose the general election,

But, asked if he would run if another Tory leadership contest was held, Mr Jenrick said he was 'not interested in that'.

'I want the Conservative Party to win the next general election. I want it to make good on its manifesto commitments,' he added. 'I think there is a way to do that.'

In a fresh blow to Mr Sunak, the 'Star Chamber' of legal advisers to the Tory Right has concluded the Rwanda legislation is not fit for purpose.

Sir Bill Cash, the veteran Brexiteer who is chairing a legal examination of the new laws, signalled the PM's legislation is not 'sufficiently watertight'.

Meanwhile, Tory moderates in the One Nation group of MPs are set to meet tomorrow to decide if the new Rwanda Bill, in their view, is compatible with international law. 

Damian Green, the group's chairman, said: 'We insist that one of the basic tenets of conservatism, that all Conservative governments should stick to, is the rule of law and meeting our international obligations.

'We're spending this weekend reassuring ourselves, if we can, that the legislation proposed actually stays within the law.'

He added: 'We are going to meet tomorrow, we're going to take the decision then.

'(Mr Sunak) has said, and he has been quite candid about this in public, it gets to within an inch of doing things that we may well find completely unacceptable.'

Mr Green said of the legality of the scheme: 'We want that to be true.'