Defeats for small boats bill in House of Lords as Channel crossings set new record

Peers voted against government-proposed measures on detention and deportation of asylum seekers

The government's small boats bill suffered a series of defeats in the House of Lords on Monday as Channel crossings in June by people seeking asylum set a new record.

Peers voted to limit the time that children and pregnant women who claim asylum after arriving by irregular means can be detained, and backed preventing LGBTQ+ people from being deported to a country where they would have a well-founded fear of persecution.