Naturally I was disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision on the Rwanda scheme this week. I can’t say I was all together that surprised as, once the Appeal Court came to the decision they did on the scheme, I always thought it was going to be difficult.

The Prime Minister outlined on Wednesday a number of steps he plans to take to try and ensure the Rwanda scheme is still delivered even in light of this week’s Supreme Court verdict. This includes emergency legislation and a new Rwanda treaty to make it explicit to the Courts that Parliament sees Rwanda as a safe country and that the policy should go ahead. Ultimately, we have an unwritten constitution in this country and Parliament is sovereign. The Prime Minister has also made it clear he won’t let foreign courts using the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) block flights.

I welcome what the Prime Minister had to say. However, like the majority of my constituents, when it comes to the small boats issue, I’ve completely run out of patience. Earlier this week I looked through my Hansard entries on the subject and remembered that the first time I raised my concerns about the small boats was in May 2020. That was three and a half years ago, at a time when the number arriving illegally was a fraction of what it is today! Since then, I must have raised it on about 30 separate occasions in Parliament. Covering multiple oral questions, written questions, speeches and debates.

The Government is right to point to a slight decrease in the numbers arriving illegally this year, at a time when numbers are going up in other European countries. I am also pleased that after a long campaign, we have finally got the news the Novotel will be one of the first asylum hotels to be returned to its traditional use as a hotel. However, the numbers arriving illegally are still intolerable and this will continue to be the case until a workable deterrent, such as the Rwanda scheme, is implemented.

The Prime Minister could have said anything outside Number 10 on Wednesday, and I still would have been a bit cynical. Both myself and a number of colleagues have no interest in words, we want action. I will interrogate the detail of this proposed emergency legislation. I look forward to hopefully having more of an understanding as to the timescales over the next few days. My instinct is that all of this should be driven through Parliament before Christmas.

With regard to my position as a Parliamentary Private Secretary, I had been considering standing down for many months. I did the role for 14 months and have a huge amount of time for Chris Heaton-Harris the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who I supported throughout this time. I was pleased to play a key role whilst the Windsor Framework was passing through Parliament. I do, however, believe that now is the time to be 110 per cent focused on Ipswich and my constituents. I also thought it was important that I was completely free and unshackled to speak my mind on important matters such as immigration, both illegal and legal. I know that for a great many of my constituents this is a top priority.

I sense that the coming weeks will be of great importance when it comes to the small boats issue. If this Government is unable to robustly tackle illegal migration, then God help us. I am more convinced than ever, that the situation would be even worse under a Labour Government. Time and time again, we have seen the Labour Party vote against every law designed to control our borders and tackle illegal migration.

Tom Hunt is Conservative MP for Ipswich