The British government has reached a deal with backbench rebel MPs to stop the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) blocking deportations of illegal immigrants.
They agreed amendments to the contentious Illegal Immigration Bill to prevent the ECHR using its 'Section 39' powers to ground flights taking trafficked migrants to Africa.
"It's a discretion to opt out on rule 39 orders — still needs final sign off," a government source told British media.
Some Tory hard-liners had reportedly demanded that the UK withdraw entirely from the ECHR — as Russia did in March.
Conservative Party Deputy Chairman Lee Anderson denied media reports that Home Secretary Suella Braverman had forced Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to "cave" over the harder line after brokering the deal with backbenchers.
"To be clear there was no 'cave in', just sensible discussion between MPs and government to make sure this new act is watertight," Anderson tweeted. "This is what grown ups do. I know these things so well done to Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak and all my colleagues beavering away behind the scenes."
But cross-bench peer and former Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd called it an "immensely serious step" that "sets an extraordinarily bad example."
Despite formally leaving the European Union (EU) in 2021, the UK is still affiliated to the ECHR through its membership of the Council of Europe — which Russia recently withdrew from after the body suspended its voting rights following the launch of its military operation in Ukraine.
The court's Section 39 rules allow judges to grant urgent "interim measures" when it believes there is an "imminent risk of irreparable damage" to claimaints.
"Rule 39 is the interim order used by Strasbourg judges to block the Rwanda flight last year," the government source insisted. "It is not itself part of the ECHR. It's a novel legal mechanism."