A civil service union boss has condemned plans by ministers to order his members to ignore court rulings blocking deportation flights to Rwanda.
Dave Penman, general secretary of the First Division Association, told HuffPost UK it was “madness” to effectively tell civil servants to break the law.
The government is thought to be considering the controversial move in a bid to placate Tory MPs who believe Rishi Sunak’s flagship Safety of Rwanda Bill does not go far enough.
Sunak suffered two major rebellions in the Commons last night as Conservative rebels tried unsuccessfully to amend the legislation.
In an attempt to stop MPs voting down the entire bill tonight, ministers are considering making a commitment to amend the civil service code to ignore so-called “section 39 orders” by the European Court of Human Rights.
These have been used in the past to prevent asylum seekers being deported to Rwanda.
But Penman pointed out that civil servants are under an obligation not to break the law.
He said: “They’re essentially advising civil servants to act illegally, which will put them in conflict between their obligation to uphold the rule of law and to follow their instructions from elected ministers.
“Ministers have an obligation to not put civil servants in that position. This is madness - changing the civil service code does not change the law.”
Garry Graham, the deputy general secretary of the Prospect union, responding to reports the government is planning to change the Civil Service Code to allow ministers to instruct civil servants to ignore the law, added: “The Civil Service Code requires that civil servants provide objective advice to ministers based on a rigorous analysis of the evidence.
“They have a duty under the Code to comply with the law and uphold the administration of justice.
“It is not for ministers to dictate the terms of the advice they receive.
“This is a desperate attempt by the party of government to placate their own backbenchers. It is vitally important for our democracy that civil service impartiality is not compromised.”
Asked about the plan on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme this morning, illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson said: “At the moment the rules are very clear, that civil servants advise, ministers decide.”
Presenter Mishal Husain asked him: “Would you tell them they have to advise ministers to ignore judges?”
The minister replied: “We’re looking at the details of that, but I’m clear that this afternoon in the House of Commons we’ll be looking at the legislation.”
Asked again if the government would be telling civil servants to ignore court rulings, Tomlinson said: “My expectation is that there will be further confirmation that it will be ministers to decide, and then once those decisions are made they will be carried out by our excellent and efficient civil servants.”