LEE Anderson has said he did not join in the small Tory rebellion and vote against the Rwanda bill because Labour MPs were “giggling and laughing” at him.

The former Labour councillor-turned-Conservative MP had resigned as deputy chair of the Tory party over the bill, but did not vote against it on Wednesday evening.

Anderson explained his reasoning to GB News, the right-wing TV channel which pays him £100,000 a year.

READ MORE: 'Misogynistic': Anger as former Tory minister calls SNP MP 'hysterical'

He said: “I went into the No lobby to vote No, because I couldn’t see how I could support the bill …

“I got into the No lobby, I spent about two or three minutes with a colleague in there. The Labour lot was all giggling and laughing and taking the mick and I couldn’t do it. In my heart of hearts I could not vote No.

“So, I walked out, I’ve abstained. I wanted to vote No, but when I saw that lot in there laughing, there’s no way I could support them above the party that’s given me a political home.”

Eleven Tory MPs did vote against the UK Government’s Rwanda bill.

These were: Suella Braverman, William Cash, Miriam Cates, Simon Clarke, Sarah Dines, James Duddridge, Mark Francois, Andrea Jenkyns, Robert Jenrick, David Jones, and Danny Kruger.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill passed its third reading in the Commons unamended with a majority of 44.

Downing Street described the Rwanda Bill’s progression as a “major step” in the Prime Minister’s pledge to stop small boats of asylum seekers from coming to Britain via the English Channel.

The bill will now move to the House of Lords where it is expected to face serious opposition.

Immigration minister Tom Pursglove urged peers to “get on and make good on this legislation”.

He told BBC’s Newsnight: “I think it is really important that the Bill has gone to the House of Lords with a significant majority, having had very considerable scrutiny on the floor of the House of Commons, particularly over the last couple of days.

“It has gone up unamended and I really hope that the House of Lords will now get on, consider this Bill and get it passed into law so that we can operationalise this plan and ultimately save lives.”

SNP MP Alison Thewliss branded the bill “state-sponsored people trafficking”.

"This Government is now, in effect, a criminal gang moving people across the world,” she said.

The Prime Minister pleaded with unelected peers in the House of Lords to pass the legislation, calling it an “urgent national priority”, during a Thursday morning press conference in Downing Street.

He said: “There is now only one question. Will the opposition in the appointed House of Lords try and frustrate the will of the people as expressed by the elected House? Or will they get on board and do the right thing?”

The Rwanda bill easily passed through the Commons on Wednesday night, as a vaunted Tory rebellion dissolved in the hours leading up to the vote.

Attempts to amend the legislation by Conservative hardliners failed, including an attempt by former immigration minister Robert Jenrick to have injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights ignored by default.