The government’s Illegal Migration Bill is finally here. Speaking in the House of Commons this lunchtime, the Home Secretary unveiled plans to swiftly remove nearly everyone who arrives in the UK via small boats. Suella Braverman said the legislation was necessary as the current asylum laws are not ‘fit for purpose’ adding that public patience ‘has run out’ among the ‘law-abiding patriotic majority’.

So, what powers does the new bill grant the government? First, it includes a legal duty on the home secretary to detain and remove those who arrive illegally. The government, too, will have the power to detain asylum seekers for up to 28 days ‘without bail or judicial review until they can be removed’ making it harder for legal challenges. As for appeals and claims to stay, the only individuals the government would not be able to deport are unaccompanied children, those who are too medically unfit to fly and those who can demonstrate ‘a real risk of serious and irreversible harm’ in the country they would be deported to.

In a best-case scenario, the bill could become law in six months

Braverman said that once the government has succeeded in stopping the boats, the bill will ‘introduce an annual cap to be determined by parliament’ on the number of refugees who can settle in the UK through new safe and legal routes. However, the Home Secretary also suggested the legislation is not complete yet, telling MPs: ‘Some of the nation’s top legal minds have been and continue to be involved in its developments.’ In a best-case scenario, the bill could become law in six months; if it faces rebellions in the Lords and opposition from Labour, it could drag on for a year.

Is the plan workable? There was plenty of scepticism in the Commons. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper described it as unworkable. Look at the Rwanda scheme, critics say, which could only take a tiny fraction of asylum seekers coming to the UK. The argument in government is that it ultimately acts as a deterrent so the number of migrants coming to the UK will drop if they manage to get the scheme up and running.

Workability is the attack line the leader of the opposition’s office wants to fight on – but plenty of other Labour MPs, such as Diane Abbott, criticised the plan on humanitarian grounds. Aides in No. 10 are all too happy if Labour MPs go down this route; the hope is that the bill could help to create a dividing line between the Tories and Labour on immigration. Braverman was quick to dismiss the opposition as lacking a solution of their own or even an intention to deal with the problem.

Ultimately though the government needs their plan to work. Speaking today, Braverman said she was ‘confident’ the bill is compatible with international law despite the Refugee Council suggesting it breaks the UK’s commitments in the UN Human Rights convention. Ministers accept that the bill will end up in the courts – the question is whether they can get the scheme up and running ahead of the next election. Without that, Sunak will come under a lot of pressure from his own side to put leaving the ECHR in the Tory manifesto.