Nigel Farage branded the Rwanda plan a “charade” as Rishi Sunak faced a crunch Commons vote.
The former Ukip and Brexit Party leader highlighted how the policy was announced almost two years ago and has cost hundreds of millions of pounds but is yet to get off the ground.
Mr Farage cast doubt over whether the Safety of Rwanda Bill would work even with right-wing Tory amendments due to international treaties the UK is signed up to.
His intervention comes as the majority of Conservative rebels are expected to back the legislation at tonight’s third reading.
Speaking on GB News, Mr Farage said: “We saw about 60 Conservatives go against the Government line yesterday. They don’t think the Rwanda Bill is tough enough, they don’t think it’s going to work.
“But would they actually have the courage, the guts, to vote down this piece of legislation that they know simply isn’t going to work?
“Well some will but it would need about 30 of them for the Government to lose and I suppose the whips will be applying pressure using tricks like this is effectively a vote of confidence in Rishi Sunak.
“So I very much doubt Conservative MPs will have the guts to vote it down. And indeed it’s worth pointing out it’s not since 1977 that a government has lost a third reading debate.
“But what annoys me about this is they’ve put us through this for almost 600 days. Six hundred days, hundreds of millions of pounds and not a single person has gone to Rwanda.
“Frankly this is a charade, all we get are the divisions within the Conservative Party played out in front of us like some sort of psychodrama.
“They’ve done it on this, they’ve done it on Boris’s parties, they’ve done it on so many issues. Preoccupied it seems with themselves and not with delivering anything of any value for the country whatsoever. I think they’re a pretty hopeless bunch.
“And I also think whether the Bill was to pass in its current form or even with some of the amendments, I’m not sure that any of it would stand legal challenge given our international obligations.
“I think that’s what needs to be sorted out before we have any hope of dealing with this problem. I think the whole thing is a waste of time and a charade.
“And isn’t it funny even the government of Rwanda have now had enough and are virtually saying if you want your money back we’ll give it to you.”
