Bury's MPs voted on different sides of a controversial immigration policy in Parliament on Monday night.

The House of Lords had been engaged in an extended tussle over the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, sending it back to the Commons five times in a bid to secure changes.

The unelected chamber ended the deadlock after MPs rejected a requirement that Rwanda could not be treated as safe until the secretary of state, having consulted an independent monitoring body, made a statement to Parliament to that effect.

The government said the Lords amendment was “almost identical” to the previous ones overturned by MPs.

The new law aims to clear the way to send asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats on a one-way flight to Rwanda's capital city Kigali.

The legislation and a treaty with Rwanda are intended to prevent further legal challenges to the stalled scheme after the Supreme Court ruled the plan was unlawful.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the policy will act as a deterrent to migrants attempting to make the perilous journey across the world’s busiest shipping lane.

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Bury North MP James Daly, a deputy chairman of the Conservatives, voted in favour of the Bill.

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He said: "The Rwanda policy is a crucial deterrent policy as part of a broad range of measures that the government has enacted to stop the boats and reduce migration levels.

“Having visited the beaches around Calais with the Home Affairs Select Committee and met some of those seeking to cross the Channel it is clear that Rwanda will deter many people from risking their lives and take them out of the hands of criminal gangs."

Meanwhile, Bury South MP Christian Wakeford, of Labour, voted against the Bill.

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Following the vote, Mr Sunak said: “The passing of this landmark legislation is not just a step forward but a fundamental change in the global equation on migration.

“We introduced the Rwanda Bill to deter vulnerable migrants from making perilous crossings and break the business model of the criminal gangs who exploit them.

“The passing of this legislation will allow us to do that and make it very clear that if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay.

“Our focus is to now get flights off the ground, and I am clear that nothing will stand in our way of doing that and saving lives.”