‘Zero chance’ of another Rwanda flight until Britain’s new PM is appointed in September – despite all leading Tory candidates backing deportation policy
- Home Office has insisted it is in the process of planning the next flight to Uganda
- But sources said no more flights will leave until next PM is in office by September
- All leading candidates to be next Conservative leader say they’ll keep the policy
Ministers will not attempt to organise any more flights to Rwanda until after the Conservative Party has chosen a new prime minister, officials have said.
The Home Office has insisted it is in the process of planning the next flight to the East African nation but has not provided a possible departure date.
However, government officials speaking anonymously said there is ‘no chance’ of any plane leaving before the next PM comes to office in early September.
The first deportation flight – due to take off in June – was grounded amid legal challenges
Trying to deport any migrants to Rwanda before then would cause too much controversy during the leadership battle, the sources told The Times.
All leading candidates to be next Conservative leader have pledged to keep the controversial policy as they try to appeal to party members.
Polling shows three in four voters who backed the Conservatives in the last election support the policy, while just 10 per cent oppose it.
Rishi Sunak confirmed on Sunday he would continue with the deportations after rivals pointed out he had not revealed his view since launching his leadership campaign on Friday.
A spokesman for the former Chancellor told the Times: ‘Rishi signed off and funded the Asylum Partnership Agreement with Rwanda, and now he just wants to make sure that it works.
‘Rishi is proud to be from a family of immigrants but believes that the UK must have control of its borders.’
Meanwhile, Jeremy Hunt – seen as a centrist candidate – has even pledged to expand the programme to other nations.
‘I hope we could find some other countries as well as Rwanda,’ Mr Hunt told the Sunday Telegraph.
He also told Sky News: ‘I do but we’ve got to make it work and I’m not convinced it is working at the moment.
‘But we have to be honest that migration has become massively more mobile over recent years in a globalised world and therefore if we want to become a humane country that offers a safe haven for people who genuinely need asylum, then we need to find legal safe routes for people to come here and not a mad dash for people to put their lives in the hands of people smugglers and try and get across the Channel.’
On Friday, Downing Street confirmed the Home Office agreement with Rwanda remained despite Boris Johnson’s resignation and suggested the first deportation flight could be made before a legal challenge against the policy is heard on July 19.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘This is a pre-agreed Government policy.
‘Convention doesn’t prevent or preclude government from seeking to fulfil that policy and that would include defending cases in court as required.’
In April Home Secretary Priti Patel signed what she branded a ‘world-first’ agreement to send migrants deemed to have arrived in the UK illegally to Rwanda.
The first deportation flight – due to take off in June – was grounded amid legal challenges.
Steve Valdez-Symonds, from Amnesty International UK, has urged the Government to rethink the ‘disastrous plan’, claiming it was ‘irresponsible and callous’, adding: ‘The UK Government is so far removed from reality and lacking in humanity that they are not only destroying the asylum system but also people’s lives.’
No more flights will be attempted until Boris Johnson (pictured) leaves office, sources said
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The government will not be deterred as we plan for the next flight to Rwanda. We will keep individuals detained where appropriate and if released on bail we may seek to tag them if appropriate.’
More than 400 migrants arrived in the UK yesterday after crossing the Channel.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said 442 people made the journey in 15 boats, suggesting an average of around 29 per boat.
Among them were several young children, including one seen clutching a cuddly toy.
It is the highest daily total since 444 were recorded on June 14, and is the fifth time this year that the figure has topped 400.
April 13 remains the highest figure so far in 2022, with 651.
Crossings continued on Tuesday, with large numbers of people expected to arrive on the Kent coast.
Some 13,749 people have made the crossing so far this year after navigating busy shipping lanes from France in small boats such as dinghies, provisional Government figures show.
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