David Cameron has urged warring Tories to unite behind Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as his premiership was pushed to the brink.
Lord Cameron told the Daily Express: “If we want to stop the boats, to stop this illegal migration, you simply have to have a strong deterrence policy, and this legislation will achieve that.
“I saw it when I was in office when there were huge numbers of people going from Turkey to Greece. And everyone thought that would never be stopped.
“But actually, once there was an agreement that anyone who arrived on a dinghy from Turkey to Greece went back to Turkey, and the Turks took them back, the number almost collapsed overnight.
“The Government has managed to achieve a new treaty with Rwanda very quickly, which many people thought we wouldn’t. Now we have legislation to put this policy beyond doubt. With the MPs’ backing, this is a plan that will stop the boats.”