THE Home Office's Nationality and Borders Bill continued debates into this evening as MPs rejected an amendment that would have scrapped fees for foreign-born UK veterans who want to remain in the UK.

The House of Commons voted 296 to 251, majority 45, against the amendment tabled by Conservative former defence minister Johnny Mercer.

Mercer wants ministers to waive immigration fees for foreign and Commonwealth military personnel and their families who want to stay in the country once their service has ended.

They would be required to have served for a minimum of five years to be eligible under Mercer’s proposal.

Some 15 Conservative MPs rebelled to vote with the opposition in support of the proposal.

The Government has proposed that troops from non-UK nations who have served in the British armed forces for 12 years may be able to stay in the country for free.

​READ MORE: Here are the five cruellest parts of the Tory 'anti-refugee bill'

Mercer said he was told the Government could not implement his proposal to waive fees as it would cost £160 million, telling MPs: “That is garbage.”

Mercer said: “I don’t want to air dirty linen in public but that 12-year figure, I was there when that was decided upon, it was done on a visit, it was plucked out of the air. There is no evidence whatsoever to back it up.”

Mercer said there is evidence that non-UK personnel will likely serve in the British forces for six to seven years, adding 12 years is “well beyond” what the UK’s allies do.

He said all the political parties will support the amendment “except the Conservatives”, adding: “We are the ones who made a promise that we would do something about that and that is unconscionable.”

Mercer advised MPs they are here to represent their constituents, highlighting a Fijian veteran in Plymouth who served for nine years and fought in Afghanistan and Iraq but has a “£10,000 bill that they have to pay to stay in this country that they fought for over so many years”.

In May, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said there was a proposal to waive the £2389 visa application fee for Commonwealth service personnel, in order to “recognise their contribution”.

The bill faced criticism from opposition members as MPs debated all aspects of the bill that has been described as "hateful" as it seeks to "criminalise" refugees looking to gain asylum in the UK.

SNP MP Patrick Grady described the bill as " literally inhumane" and said that it "dehumanises asylum seekers".

He continued: "[This bill] puts lives at risk and turns people into criminals simply by attempting to exercise their basic human rights. But the UK Government isn't going to let small matters like fundamental human rights, the rule of law and natural justice get in the way of their hostile environment and attempts to exclude practically anyone who's not a tax-dodging billionaire from settling on these shores.

"We keep hearing 'the asylum system is broken' from [the UK Government]. Well how can that happen? Because they've been in power for 10 years and the environment has only got more hostile. So perhaps a different approach is needed."

He went onto talk about the right to work clause for asylum seekers in the bill, submitted by the SNP, saying that the right to work is a "human right" that cannot be taken away as it is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

He said that people seeking asylum want to work and share their skills, adding: "They want to work, they want to contribute, they want to share their skills instead of being a cost to the system, let them contribute to the system. Instead of receiving meagre, insulting support payments from taxpayers, let them become taxpayers. But that's not something the Government is interested in."

Home Office minister Tom Pursglove told MPs: “Obviously this Bill complies fully with our international obligations but the Home Secretary fully agrees with the sentiment that has been expressed through this amendment about the challenges which frustrate the British people in terms of our ability to remove people with no right to be in the UK.

“I can therefore confirm that the Government has imminent plans to consult on substantial reform of the Human Rights Act which will be announced imminently in Parliament.”

Responding to an amendment by a group of Conservative MPs calling for a review of the Act and the ECHR, the minister added: “The Home Secretary also recognises my right honourable friends’ concerns about aspects of the ECHR and other international agreements, I can therefore confirm that we are committed to reviewing and resolving these issues with the urgency that the situation warrants.”

Pursglove would later not be drawn into whether the Government is committed to remaining a signatory of the ECHR.