LONDON

The UK Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick on Wednesday stepped down, saying he "cannot continue in his position when he has disagreements with the direction of the government’s policy on immigration."

The resignation comes on the heels of the government's unveiling of emergency legislation aimed at facilitating its Rwanda policy.

"However, I refuse to be yet another politician who makes promises on immigration to the British public but does not keep them," he said in a letter to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Jenrick.

"..We said that we would stop the boats altogether. That is what the public rightly demands and expects of us. We must truly mean that we will do 'whatever it takes' to deliver this commitment when we say so. This emergency legislation is the last opportunity to prove this, but in its current drafting it does not go far enough," he added.

The proposed legislation, designed to circumvent legal challenges to deportation flights, has sparked intense debate within the Conservative party.

While ministers argue that the bill will prevent future obstacles to deportation flights, it falls short of the demands from some within the Tory right wing.

Speculation has swirled around Jenrick's stance, as he had previously hinted at the possibility of the UK quitting the European Convention on Human Rights (EHCR).