Defiant Priti Patel vows to keep fighting for her flagship Rwanda plan

‘The preparation for the next flight begins NOW’: Defiant but ‘disappointed’ Priti Patel vows to press on with her Rwanda deportation plan despite meddling Strasbourg Human Rights judge grounding the first plane 20 minutes before take-off

Home Secretary Priti Patel vows to plough on with Rwanda plan despite Strasbourg judge blocking first flight
Number of migrants due to be relocated was whittled down from 130 to just seven by early Tuesday morning
But within nine hours, the Government’s plan to tackle the surge Britain’s surging migration was left in tatters
Extraordinary 11th-hour intervention appears to set UK Government on a one-way collision with ECHR
The Kigali-bound charter aircraft is thought to have cost to the taxpayer up to £500,000 with all the snags

Home Secretary Priti Patel last night defiantly vowed to plough ahead with her Rwanda relocation plan despite a European judge’s extraordinary 11th-hour intervention blocked the first flight from ever leaving the runway.

An out-of-hours European Court of Human Rights judge made the dramatic 11th hour intervention, with the crew of the Boeing 767 told they could not take off from MoD Boscombe Down, Salisbury at 10.30pm as planned.

Ms Patel issued a strongly-worded rebuttal of the Strasbourg justice’s ruling, saying she was disappointed the flight to Kigali would not go ahead as scheduled, but would not be ‘deterred from doing the right thing’.

In a statement released late on Tuesday, the Home Secretary admitted the policy ‘will not be easy to deliver’ but expressed optimism that the Government would be able to overcome left-wing lawyers’ repeated legal challenges.

On Tuesday morning, just seven names remained on the list – which was whittled down from 130 – of those due to be deported, with ministers adamant the plane would take off even if just one Channel migrant remained onboard.

But within nine hours, the Government’s latest bid to curb Britain’s spiralling migration was left in tatters after a judge sitting almost 500 miles away in northeastern France ruled the flight could not proceed.

The Rwanda charter aircraft is thought to have cost to the taxpayer up to £500,000. To add to the fury within Whitehall, it appears at this moment the Home Office has no means of challenging the European court’s decision.

Tuesday’s drastic development appears to set ministers on a one-way collision with the ECHR, which is part of the Council of Europe and separate from the European Union.

Earlier in the day the Prime Minister had floated the idea of the UK walking away from the ECHR, a move which would see it join Greece, who have since rejoined, and Russian in leaving the international judiciary.

A Downing Street source told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s an abomination that after domestic courts have repeatedly ruled in the Government’s favour, that an out-of-hours judge in the European Court has intervened to block the removal of illegal migrants to Rwanda.’

Despite the last-ditch legal challenge a Rwandan government source, speaking to ITV, insisted they remained ‘undeterred’ and ‘committed to making the partnership work’.

A convoy believed to be carrying asylum seekers leaves MOD Boscombe Down after a private charter jet was grounded just before it was due for take-off to Rwanda tonight

A private charter jet (believed to be empty of passengers) leaves MOD Boscombe Down after it was refused permission to take-off for Rwanda

The plane meant to be first to transport migrants to Rwanda is seen at MOD Boscombe Down base in Wiltshire

A convoy of vans and police head away from the airstrip returning the immigrants back to their respective detention centres

Crew members board the Rwanda deportation flight Boeing 767 at Boscombe Down Air Base. Legal wrangling continued throughout Tuesday evening before the first flight due to take UK asylum seekers to Kigali was dramatically grounded

A tracker for the Rwanda deportation flight shows the aircraft’s journey after it departed the UK without carrying any of the seven asylum seekers who were due to board

Protesters gathered outside Colnbrook Immigration Detention Centre in Heathrow and lay on the ground in an effort to halt tonight’s first flight transporting UK asylum seekers to Rwanda

Police officers try to remove an activist blocking a road leading away from the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre

The protest near Heathrow Airport was against the British Government’s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda

A number of arrests were made during this afternoon’s protest according to campaign group ‘Stop Deportations!’

The campaign group ‘Stop Deportations!’ issued an urgent call summoning activists to the detention centre at Heathrow

Police officers stand near activists blocking a road leading away from the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre

The coach with outriders leaves Colnbrook, Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre this afternoon on the day a flight to Rwanda is due to leave

Six people are due to be transferred on tonight’s first flight to Rwanda, after one asylum seeker’s removal was called off by the European Court of Human Rights

Police are seen guarding the entrance of the MoD Boscombe Down, where a Boeing 767 aircraft was spotted today

A police van accompanied by motorised police personnel arrives at MoD Boscombe Down

A minibus with outriders leaves Colnbrook, Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre, Heathrow this afternoon on the day a flight to Rwanda is due to leave carrying seven asylum seekers to Rwanda

Home Secretary Priti Patel hits out at European judges thwarting her Rwanda relocation plan at the 11th hour

Home Secretary Priti Patel has insisted the Rwanda policy is vital to prevent a repeat of tragedies such as the drowning of 27 men, women and children on November 24 last year.

She continued: ‘Earlier this year, I signed a world-leading Migration Partnership with Rwanda to see those arriving dangerously, illegally, or unnecessarily into the UK relocated to build their lives there.

‘This will help break the people smugglers’ business model and prevent loss of life, while ensuring protection for the genuinely vulnerable.

‘Access to the UK’s asylum system must be based on need, not on the ability to pay people smugglers. The demands on the current system, the cost to the taxpayer, and the flagrant abuses are increasing, and the British public have rightly had enough.

‘I have always said this policy will not be easy to deliver and am disappointed that legal challenge and last-minute claims have meant today’s flight was unable to depart.

‘It is very surprising that the European Court of Human Rights has intervened despite repeated earlier success in our domestic courts.

‘These repeated legal barriers are similar to those we experience with other removals flights and many of those removed from this flight will be placed on the next.’

Although it was widely reported just seven migrants were due to be removed from the United Kingdom on Tuesday, defiant ministers had earlier insisted the flight would go ahead even if there is only one person on board.

But in a late twist, all asylum seekers due to be removed on tonight’s first plane to the capital of Kigali disembarked from the plane ahead of departure, meaning the flight will no longer depart as expected.

An out-of-hours judge had been reviewing the remaining cases on papers, with Home Office sources warning the first scheduled flight would not take off after days of recent challenges in British courts.

The High Court is also due to hold a judicial review in July to decide on the legality of the Rwanda scheme.

London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan immediately celebrated the news as it was confirmed the flight had been called off. He tweeted: ‘Tonight’s inhumane deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda has been stopped by the ECtHR – minutes before it was due to depart.

‘Sending people fleeing violence to a country thousands of miles away was already cruel and callous. It’s now potentially unlawful too.’

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon added: ‘Whilst we are relieved to hear the flight to Rwanda did not take off as planned tonight it is clear that the Government remain determined to press on with this deal.

‘The fact that the final flight could not take off is indicative of the inhumanity of the plan and the Government’s complete refusal to see the face behind the case.’

A group of protesters gathered this afternoon outside Colnbrook Detention Centre in Heathrow and lay on the ground in an effort to halt the flight, which is anticipated at around 10.30pm.

The Boeing 767 is operated by Spanish charter firm Privilege Style and was seen landing at the MoD testing site earlier today. The company had a permit to fly from Stansted to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, at 10.30pm tonight, according to Civil Aviation Authority records.

According to plane tracking website Flightradar24, the jet touched down in Madrid at around 01.00am GMT on Wednesday morning after spending much of the day collecting dust on the MoD’s Wiltshire runway.

Both the airline and the Home Office are yet to comment on the latest reports.

On Tuesday, the ECHR dramatically ruled that a 54-year-old Iraqi man, understood to have travelled to the UK by boat in May and who may also have been tortured in the past, would not be leaving Britain’s shores on Tuesday evening as planned.

The court said it was effectively barring the man, identified only as KN, from being sent to Rwanda under its rules which apply when there is an ‘imminent risk of irreparable harm’.

It added that the UK Government must not remove KN until three weeks after a full judicial review by the UK High Court has taken place into the legality of the Rwanda policy.

The ruling effectively overturned a series of decisions by British courts – including the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court – that had allowed the Rwanda flight to go ahead.

Left-wing activists and lawyers had launched a string of legal challenges against the Home Office. Some had prevented individuals being placed on the passenger list, but attempts to win an injunction blocking the whole policy resoundingly failed.

At that stage, lawyers for KN went to Strasbourg. As the complex series of last-minute legal wrangles unfolded, hundreds of migrants crossed the Channel on small boats yesterday.

Tuesday was meant to mark the first flight of the Government’s much-vaunted Rwanda resettlement scheme for UK asylum seekers.

At the start of the day, just seven names remained of the 130 on the original passenger list after a series of legal challenges. So how did the day unfold?

12.42pm – The Supreme Court rejected an appeal over a judge’s refusal to call off the removal of an asylum seeker due to be deported.

2.05pm – The first of four appeals before the High Court was rejected by Lord Justice Swift.

2.30pm – The second and third asylum seekers’ appeals were also refused at the High Court by Lord Swift.

3.30pm – The Prime Minister admits it may be ‘necessary to change some laws’ in an interview with Sky News to allow the Rwanda resettlement scheme.

4.30pm – A fourth asylum seeker’s claim is also rejected at the High Court by Lord Swift.

4.35pm – A Boeing 767 aircraft is spotted on the runway at MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire.

4.40pm – Rwanda government spokeswoman Yolande Maloki defends the resettlement scheme in a press conference and insists it is not a punishment.

6.10pm – Protesters from ‘Stop Deportations!’ block the exit routes from Colnbrook Immigration Detention Centre in Heathrow.

6.40pm – In a decisive turning point, the European Court of Human Rights passes an injunction preventing a 54-year-old Iraqi man from being transferred on the flight.

6.55pm – Around five Home Office vans are spotted at MoD Boscombe Down.

7.20pm – Speculation mounts whether the flight will go ahead after the ECHR’s ruling.

7.45pm – Demonstrators gather at the front of Mod Boscombe Down waving banners.

9.30pm – There are reports of just three asylum seekers on the plane, which was due to take off shortly.

10pm – Reports emerge that there is just one asylum seeker left on the plane amid confusion over whether it will depart.

10.10pm – The final asylum seeker is removed from the Boeing 767 aircraft, at which point it is announced the flight has been cancelled.

An estimated 400 people – including a heavily-pregnant woman, babies and small children – risked their lives to reach Dover in the perilous crossing from northern France. Yesterday’s unconfirmed number of arrivals is thought to have brought the total since the start of the year to more than 10,600.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has insisted the Rwanda policy is vital to prevent a repeat of tragedies such as the drowning of 27 men, women and children on November 24 last year.

Ms Patel later said she was disappointed the flight to Rwanda was not able to leave but would not be ‘deterred from doing the right thing’, adding: ‘Our legal team are reviewing every decision made on this flight and preparation for the next flight begins now.’

She continued: ‘Access to the UK’s asylum system must be based on need, not on the ability to pay people smugglers. The demands on the current system, the cost to the taxpayer, and the flagrant abuses are increasing, and the British public have rightly had enough.

‘I have always said this policy will not be easy to deliver and am disappointed that legal challenge and last-minute claims have meant today’s flight was unable to depart.

‘It is very surprising that the European Court of Human Rights has intervened despite repeated earlier success in our domestic courts.

‘These repeated legal barriers are similar to those we experience with other removals flights and many of those removed from this flight will be placed on the next.’

In an interview with BBC’s Newsnight, former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption said it was unclear if the Strasbourg ruling should stop flights and that the enforceability of the interim Strasbourg judgement is a controversial question.

Lortd Sumption added: ‘This isn’t a final judgement of the Strasbourg court, it’s an interim judgement and what is more, that particular article is not one of the ones incorporated into UK law of the Human Rights Act. A more difficult question is what position is there in international law.

‘On the face of it there is nothing in the convention gives effect to orders of the Strasbourg court.’

Meanwhile left-wing campaigners had spent much of Tuesday working to thwart the Home Office’s attempts to move Channel migrants to airports and runways ahead of their departures.

One Colnbrook activist said: ‘No one should be on this flight. No one should be deported under such racist and discriminatory policies. This flight represents the very worst of government legislation regarding refugees,’ The Guardian reports.

The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in 2001 by the UK Ministry of Defence.

Activists say just six of the original 130 people originally told they would be deported to Rwanda were expected to be on the aircraft, but this was soon whittled down to zero after intervention from Strasbourg judges.

A charity said the ECHR ruling would mean the others earmarked to go to Rwanda would not now be deported, with their claims being proven correct at the 11th-hour after the flight was grounded.

‘This means it is now possible for the other six to make similar claims. We are so relieved,’ said Clare Moseley of the charity Care4Calais earlier on Tuesday.

Four men who challenged their removal at the High Court in London had their cases dismissed today, while a fifth man lost a bid to bring an appeal at the Supreme Court.

Baroness Chakrabarti, former director of Liberty and former Labour shadow attorney general, said that a ‘substantive judicial review’ of the Government’s Rwanda policy is set to be considered in July.

She accused the Government of going ahead with the plan before the Court of Appeal’s final verdict on the lawfulness of offshore processing, because of an ongoing ‘culture war’.

She said: ‘Would it not have been open to the Home Office to hold off removals until then or is it a confected culture war so that other ministers make these remarks about ‘leftie lawyers’ thwarting the will of the people, and that these souls, these seven or so souls, are collateral damage in that culture war.’

Lord Coaker, shadow spokesman for home affairs and defence, branded the Government’s Rwanda policy ‘unethical, unworkable and expensive, and flies in the face of British values’.

He argued, during a House of Lords debate on the policy, that it is not only ‘shameful’ in a moral capacity, but that the Government putting an RAF base on standby just to facilitate the flight of around seven people would be costly for the taxpayer.

He asked: ‘What will the cost to the taxpayer be of each person?’

Home Office minister Baroness Williams of Trafford replied that she did not believe it was moral to ‘stand by and allow people to drown’ or to ‘line the pockets of criminal gangs who seek to exploit people trying to cross in small boats’.

She added: ‘In terms of the cost, I don’t think we can put a cost on the price of human lives. I think we need to do all we can to deter these perilous journeys.’

The Hallmark Residences Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda where it is believed migrants from the UK are expected to be taken when they arrive

A Boeing 767 plane reported to be the first to transport migrants to Rwanda is seen on the tarmac at MOD Boscombe Down base in Wiltshire

Police are seen outside Boscombe Down Air Base, as the first flight relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda prepares to leave the UK

Vans arrive at Colnbrook – Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre – this afternoon ahead of the first flight to Rwanda

A police van accompanied by motorised police personnel arrives at the British MoD Boscombe Down

A ‘privileged style’ aircraft stands on the runway at MoD Boscombe ready to take the first migrants to the east African country tonight.

This morning, Liz Truss insisted the first plane would take off on Tuesday even if it is only carrying one migrant. The Supreme Court ruling meant this condition will be met.

‘We’re expecting to send the flight later today,’ Truss told Sky News but said she was unable to confirm the numbers due to be on board.

‘There will be people on the flights and if they’re not on this flight, they will be on the next flight,’ she added.

It came as Boris Johnson vowed lawyers and Church of England critics would not deter the government from seeing the policy through.

Opening Cabinet this morning, Mr Johnson said: ‘What is happening with the attempt to undermine the Rwanda policy is that they are, I’m afraid, undermining everything that we’re trying to do to support safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK and to oppose the illegal and dangerous routes,’ he said.

‘I think that what the criminal gangs are doing and what those who effectively are abetting the work of the criminal gangs are doing is undermining people’s confidence in the safe and legal system, undermining people’s general acceptance of immigration.’

The Prime Minister added: ‘We are not going to be in any way deterred or abashed by some of the criticism that is being directed upon this policy, some of it from slightly unexpected quarters. We are going to get on and deliver.’

Challenges by four asylum seekers were rejected by the same judge earlier today. In the first case, the judge said a man’s removal to Rwanda would not alter the quality or nature of his relationship with his UK-resident sister, after lawyers representing him argued that deportation would infringe his right to a family life.

A barrister representing a second man told the judge that he had claimed asylum after receiving ‘death threats from loan sharks’ in Vietnam. Alex Grigg also alleged procedural failures, saying the man had been handed the letter informing him of his removal when no interpreter was present. However, the judge rejected this argument.

The third man, who had travelled from Iran to the UK with his 21-year-old son, had asked the High Court to prevent his removal due to his mental health and right to a family life. However, refusing the application, Mr Justice Swift said: ‘I accept the prejudice to the claimant will include distress due to being separated from his son.’

The fourth man had his application to stop his removal rejected and he was also refused the right to appeal. Decisions on any other outstanding appeals could take place even if a migrant is already on the plane, ITV reported.

In other developments in the unfolding Rwanda flight farce:

Rwanda government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo defended the policy at a press conference in Kigali, saying: ‘We were doing this for the right reasons … We have the experience. We want it to be a welcoming place for people in precarious conditions and we’re determined to make this work’;
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she did not know how many people would be on the first flight but it was important to establish the ‘principle’ of the policy and others would go in future;
The archbishops of Canterbury and York along with the other Anglican bishops in the House of Lords condemned the ‘immoral’ plan;
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: ‘Deporting asylum seekers should shame us as a nation.’
Ms Truss did not deny estimates that a charter flight could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, instead saying she ‘can’t put a figure’ on the expense but ‘it is value for money’;
Tory MP Peter Bone made a combative speech in the Commons in which he complained about ‘lefty lawyers’ sabotaging the policy;
A government source suggested the chances of the first flight going ahead were ‘very, very slim’ even despite the government winning a key court battle;
More than 100 migrants arrived in Dover after crossing the Channel in small boats today, with this week set to be one of 2022’s busiest yet for crossings;

The £20k-an-hour package holiday jet Priti Patel wants to use to send asylum seekers to Rwanda

The government has hired Privilege Style Airlines to fly the first asylum seekers to their off-shore processing facility in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Home Office chartered a Boeing 767-300ER with a maximum capacity of 18 passengers in Business Class with a further 246 in the back.

The 27-year-old aircraft costs approximately £20,000-an-hour to charter and has a range of 7,260 miles, so it can travel the 4,100 miles to the Rwandan capital Kigali without needed to refuel en-route.

The flight time from London to Kigali is approximately nine hours, meaning the trip down to will cost in the region of £180,000.

The jet will be used to return Home Office officials on the flight to the UK, meaning a further £180,000 will be spent.

Also, the jet flew empty from Dusseldorf to RAF Boscombe Down in Amebury, Wiltshire which would have cost the government at least £20,000 for the hour-long flight.

Normally a charter aircraft will wait for up to two hours for its passengers before it starts charging extra, as it will have to turn down other clients.

On June 13, the day before the jet arrived in the UK, it flew from Dusseldorf to Palma de Mallorca return before heading off to Tenerife and returning to Dusseldorf, where it took off this morning for the RAF base.

The airline boasts that the aircraft has carried almost 500,000 passengers since it joined their fleet in 2013.

Passengers on the jet are normally offered wifi, according to the airline and can follow the route of the aircraft on a moving screen.

The aircraft offers 18 passengers business class seats, with two seats per row, rather than the two-three-two layout in the back which has space for a further 229 passengers

This seating map shows the business class seats behind the aircraft’s cockpit. The bulk of the passengers are seated in three rows across the aircraft in a two-three-two configuration

The leather seats on board the aircraft are normally packed with holiday makers at this time of year travelling to sunshine destinations

Passengers on the jet are normally offered wifi for in-flight entertainment. Those in business class have space to plug in their laptops

This Boeing 767 – seen landing at RAF Boscombe Down in Wiltshire today – is expected to be used in the first flight to Rwanda tonight. Spanish carrier Privilege Style has not yet commented on the claims

The company has a permit to fly from Stansted to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, at 9.30pm tonight, according to Civil Aviation Authority records. The airline has not yet commented on the claims.

Three Iranians, one Vietnamese, one Albanian and one Iraqi Kurd are being held at Colnbrook detention centre by Heathrow, where a coach was seen parked today

Boris Johnson, opening Cabinet today, turned his fire on lawyers who he accused of ‘abetting the work of criminal gangs’

Mr Johnson – pictured today at Cabinet with Rishi Sunak in the background – insisted the Government would not be deterred by the attacks ‘not least from lawyers’ and told his Cabinet ministers that ‘we are going to get on and deliver’ the plan

Priti Patel’s Rwanda plan received a boost last night after judges refused to block today’s flight. The Home Secretary is seen today

Today, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted the first flight would take off but could not say how few people will be on it

Detainees in Brook House Detention Centre, Gatwick this morning on the day a flight to Rwanda is due to leave

There have been protests at government removal centres including Brook House Detention Centre (pictured)

Three cases rejected by High Court judge today

CASE 1

In the first case, the judge said a man’s removal to Rwanda would not alter the quality or nature of his relationship with his UK-resident sister, after lawyers representing him argued that deportation would infringe his right to a family life.

CASE 2

CASE 3

CASE 4

In a hearing on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Justice Swift refused the application of a Kurdish man against his removal. The judge also refused him permission to appeal.

Ministers turned their fire on lawyers who they blame for sabotaging their flagship migration policy.

‘All the lawyers who have been fighting in the courts will now turn their collective might elsewhere and direct all their resources at the remaining individuals due to be on board,’ a government source told The Times.

‘They’ll be exploiting every single loophole possible and using every trick in the book to get those last people removed from the flight.

‘[The chances of it going ahead as planned] are very, very slim.’

Last night, Tory MP Peter Bone made a combative speech in the Commons in which he complained about ‘lefty lawyers’ sabotaging the policy.

The MP Wellingborough told MPs: ‘We hear that a number of people who were meant to be on the flight tomorrow have, miraculously, got some lefty lawyer to intervene and stop it.

‘Can I suggest that instead of booking 50 people on each flight to Rwanda, book 250 people on it then when they stop half of them from travelling you still have a full flight – come on, get on and send them.’

Judges yesterday refused to block the inaugural flight scheduled for today to the offshore processing centre.

Tory MPs cheered in the Commons as the Court of Appeal backed a ruling in the Home Secretary’s favour last week, giving the policy the green light.

A separate High Court bid to block the flight also failed yesterday when the charity Asylum Aid was denied an injunction.

The Home Secretary has now won three victories in cases brought against the Government by Left-wing groups.

A processing tent erected next door to the Hope Hostel accommodation in Kigali, Rwanda where migrants from the UK are expected to be taken when they arrive

Ms Patel has now won three victories in cases brought against the Government by Left-wing groups . Pictured: Human rights protesters demonstrate outside the Home Office in London

Revealed: The piously lefty cabal who have fought to ground Rwanda flight

By David Wilkes for the Daily Mail

A collection of Left-wing groups have made legal challenges in a bid to block ministers’ plan to send migrants to Rwanda. They are represented by lawyers who in many cases have links to the Labour Party and a lengthy record of bringing cases against the Government.

MATRIX CHAMBERS

Barristers from the trendy London human rights chambers – co-founded by Cherie Blair – represented the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, Care4Calais and Detention Action on Friday and yesterday.

One was top QC Raza Husain, who last month retweeted a message by Labour MP Chris Bryant criticising Boris Johnson’s response to Partygate that said: ‘Downing Street under him has been a cesspit of arrogant, entitled narcissists.’ Mrs Blair left the chambers in 2014.

LEIGH DAY

A separate challenge to the Rwanda policy by charity Asylum Aid, heard in court yesterday, was lodged by law firm Leigh Day, which was accused of being behind a ‘witch-hunt’ of British troops in Iraq.

The firm and three of its solicitors – including senior partner Martyn Day – were cleared of a string of misconduct allegations following a disciplinary hearing in 2017. They had been charged by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority after the Ministry of Defence submitted a lengthy dossier of alleged wrongdoing, including claims they caused innocent troops years of torment.

Leigh Day worked with Birmingham solicitor Phil Shiner to represent Iraqi clients in parallel legal actions. Mr Shiner was struck off as a solicitor for dishonesty over his handling of war-crime allegations against the Army.

DOUGHTY STREET

Asylum Aid’s legal team also includes several barristers from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s former chambers, Doughty Street.

They include leading human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy QC, who has been an active and outspoken Labour peer since entering the House of Lords as Baroness Kennedy after the general election in 1997. It is also where Amal Clooney, the lawyer wife of film star George, practises.

Robert Latham, who retains an associate tenancy at Doughty Street, supported Sir Keir’s leadership campaign with a donation of £100,000.

DUNCAN LEWIS SOLICITORS

Acting for the PCS union, Care 4 Calais and Detention Action, Duncan Lewis has a long track record of bringing challenges against government immigration measures.

In 2020, The Mail on Sunday revealed the firm had received £55 million in legal aid from the British taxpayer in just three years. The paper also told how the company’s staff have travelled to Calais and offered support to refugees hoping to reach Britain.

Owned by entrepreneur Amarpal Singh Gupta, who has been dubbed ‘Britain’s legal aid king’, the firm has forged a close relationship with charities that work among refugee camps on the French coast. Staff have also reportedly boasted of mixing with senior Labour Party figures, including deputy leader Angela Rayner and foreign spokesman David Lammy.

DETENTION ACTION

Bella Sankey, director of campaign group Detention Action, is a former would-be Labour MP endorsed by Sir Keir. Like the Labour leader many years before, Miss Sankey previously worked at Liberty, the campaign group for civil liberties which has long been a recruiting ground for Labour politicians.

PUBLIC AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES UNION

The union’s firebrand general secretary Mark Serwotka was kicked out of the Labour Party in 1992 for being a member of the Trotskyist group Socialist Organiser. In 2016, he rejoined Labour, saying his long-time friend Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership offered a ‘genuine break from the past’. In recent years, he has called for a General Strike to ‘bring the Tories down’.

CARE4CALAIS

The charity was at the centre of a scandal in 2017 when it emerged its married founder Clare Moseley, a former accountant and then 46, had a year-long affair with Mohamed Bajjar, then 27. He had falsely claimed to be a Syrian refugee, but was in reality a Tunisian market-stall trader married to another British woman.

The charity is currently embroiled in a Charity Commission inquiry over ‘serious governance concerns’.

ASYLUM AID

Its Cambridge-educated director Alison Pickup leads a team providing legal representation to asylum seekers and refugees. She was previously legal director of the Public Law Project – and before that had a practice at Doughty Street Chambers, where she specialised in immigration, asylum and migrants’ rights in the context of unlawful detention, community care, asylum support and access to justice.

Among her achievements, Doughty Street Chambers’ website lists her as having been junior counsel in ‘two of the leading challenges to the legal aid cuts’.

One was the successful challenge to the proposed ‘residence test’ for legal aid, the other established that Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to respect for private and family life – may require legal aid to be provided in immigration cases.

Just seven names remained of the 130 on the original passenger list last night after lawyers submitted a series of challenges.

Further individual appeals by these seven, who include Iranians, Iraqis and Albanians, were expected in the hours before the flight.

At least six further cases are due to be heard at the High Court today under the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and other legal measures.

But the Court of Appeal’s decision means Miss Patel’s scheme to hand Channel migrants and other ‘irregular arrivals’ a one-way ticket to the east African nation has avoided falling at the first hurdle.

The Home Secretary insists the policy is necessary to avoid further drownings in the Channel.

‘People will see this as a good result for the Home Office, but now the policy is not facing a blanket ban, well-resourced lawyers will try to get their clients pulled off the flight individually,’ a government source said.

‘They will try every tactic and exploit every loophole, probably waiting until the very last minute.’

The leadership of the Church of England yesterday condemned the Rwanda operation as an ‘immoral policy that shames Britain’.

In a letter to The Times, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and 24 other bishops said: ‘Whether or not the first deportation flight leaves Britain today for Rwanda, this policy should shame us as a nation.’

Lord Justice Singh, chairing a panel of three judges in the Court of Appeal yesterday, declined to ‘interfere with the conclusions’ made by a High Court judge on Friday.

He said Mr Justice Swift ‘did not err in principle’ when he refused to grant an interim injunction that would have stopped the flight taking off.

Lord Justice Singh was a leading human rights barrister and founded Matrix Chambers with Cherie Blair.

The appeal was brought by the Public and Commercial Services union, which represents a majority of UK Border Force staff, and charities Care 4 Calais and Detention Action.

They were refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court, although the applicants may lodge a further bid directly.

Raza Husain QC, for the applicants, told the court the Rwanda policy featured ‘a serious interference with basic dignity’ and the High Court had wrongly assessed the strength of their claim.

He added that if migrants were to be sent to Rwanda and a judicial review – due in July – rules the policy unlawful the Home Office would be required to return them to the UK.

Migrants could then have ‘significant claims’ for damages, the QC suggested.

But Rory Dunlop QC, for the Home Office, said: ‘The flight tomorrow is important. This is a policy which is intended to deter dangerous and unnecessary journeys, journeys from safe third countries by people who do not need to make that journey to be safe, they can claim in France or wherever it is.

‘This is a policy that – if it works – could save lives as well as disrupt the model of traffickers.’

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has implicitly rejected Prince Charles’s reported criticisms of the Rwanda plan.

Mr Johnson declined to comment directly on whether the prince was wrong to call it ‘appalling’, but added: ‘This is about making sure that we break the business model of criminal gangs who are not only risking people’s lives but undermining public confidence in legal migration.’

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the scheme was ‘shameful’ and ‘completely unworkable, deeply unethical and extortionately expensive’.

It came as protestors were picturing scuffling with police last night after an emergency protest outside the Home Office in London.

The demonstrations, which began at around 5.30pm and quickly swelled, included the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who was pictured speaking enthusiastically into a megaphone as a large crowd amassed.

The scenes later turned chaotic after objectors were seen grappling with officers yesterday evening. The Met Police say no arrests were made.

Charities had challenged an initial refusal to grant an injunction on Friday, with three Court of Appeal judges yesterday rejecting their appeal following an urgent hearing.

The decision will not stop individual refugees from appealing their deportation, while a full judicial review of the policy is still due to take place in July.

Yesterday afternoon, Lord Justice Singh, sitting with Lady Justice Simler and Lord Justice Stuart-Smith, said Mr Justice Swift had ‘conducted the balancing exercise properly’ and did not err in principle nor in the approach he took.

He added: ‘He weighed all the factors and reached a conclusion which he was reasonably entitled to reach on the material before him.

‘This court cannot therefore interfere with that conclusion.’

The Court of Appeal’s decision means Miss Patel’s scheme to hand Channel migrants and other ‘irregular arrivals’ a one-way ticket to the east African nation has avoided falling at the first hurdle. Pictured: Border Force and the military escort migrant ashore at Dover Docks

Migrants travelling to the UK on small boats will be put on jets and sent to Rwanda while their applications are processed

‘Inhumane, cruel, callous… and possibly illegal’: Jeremy Corbyn and Sadiq Khan head the lefty cheerleaders saluting Strasbourg grounding government’s Rwanda deportation flight

By Rory Tingle, Home Affairs Correspondent, and Stewart Carr, Adam Solomons and Jacob Thorburn for Mailonline and Neal Sears and David Barrett for the Daily Mail

Leading left-wing figures tonight wildly celebrated a European judge’s 11th-hour decision to thwart the Government’s plan to deport asylum seekers.

Sadiq Khan and Jeremy Corbyn were among those leading the celebrations over the Strasbourg judge’s extraordinary intervention.

An out-of-hours European Court of Human Rights judge made the dramatic 11th hour intervention, informing the Boeing 767’s crew they could not take off as scheduled as the runway lights at MOD Boscombe Down, Salisbury were switched off shortly before the clock ticked down to 10.30pm.

It meant a gloating left-wing cabal was out in force late on Tuesday after last-ditch legal bids appeared to leave the Home Office’s Rwanda relocation plan in tatters.

Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan immediately celebrated the news as it was confirmed the flight had been called off minutes before its scheduled departure.

He tweeted: ‘Tonight’s inhumane deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda has been stopped by the ECtHR – minutes before it was due to depart.

‘Sending people fleeing violence to a country thousands of miles away was already cruel and callous. It’s now potentially unlawful too.’

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn later waded in, describing the European court’s last-gasp incursion as a ‘very welcome decision’.

Just days earlier Mr Corbyn had attended a demonstration outside the Home Office, that later turned ugly, s protestors railed against plans to relocate asylum seekers.

Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan immediately celebrated the news as it was confirmed the flight had been called off minutes before its scheduled departure

Mr Corbyn was pictured speaking at a demonstration outside the Home Office on Monday as protestors railed against plans to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda

Leading left-wing figures took to Twitter to wildly celebrate a European judge’s 11th-hour decision to thwart the Government’s plan to deport asylum seekers

Scottish lawyer and political activist Aamer Anwar also trumpeted the ECHR’s decision to his 93,000 Twitter followers.

His comments were soon followed by Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, who attacked the ‘unfair and cruel’ policy.

Campaign group Stop Deportations later vowed to ‘continue the fight’ against ‘racist’ deportations.

Tuesday’s drastic development sets ministers on collision course with the Strasbourg court, which is part of the Council of Europe and separate from the European Union.

The High Court is also due to hold a judicial review in July to decide on the legality of the Rwanda scheme.

A Downing Street source said: ‘It’s an abomination that after domestic courts have repeatedly ruled in the Government’s favour, that an out-of-hours judge in the European Court has intervened to block the removal of illegal migrants to Rwanda.’

The Rwanda charter aircraft is thought to have cost to the taxpayer up to £500,000.

To add to the fury within Whitehall, it appears at this moment the Home Office has no means of challenging the European court’s decision.

The Boeing 767 due to fly Channel migrants to Kigali on Tuesday remained grounded at MOD Boscombe Down, Wiltshire after an extraordinary last-ditch legal intervention

A convoy believed to be carrying asylum seekers leaves MOD Boscombe Down late on Tuesday after the ECHR thwarted the Home Office’s plan to relocate them

Detainees in Brook House Detention Centre, Gatwick this morning on the day a flight to Rwanda is due to leave

There have been protests at government removal centres including Brook House Detention Centre (pictured)

By David Wilkes for the Daily Mail

MATRIX CHAMBERS

LEIGH DAY

DOUGHTY STREET

Asylum Aid’s legal team also includes several barristers from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s former chambers, Doughty Street.

Robert Latham, who retains an associate tenancy at Doughty Street, supported Sir Keir’s leadership campaign with a donation of £100,000.

DUNCAN LEWIS SOLICITORS

Acting for the PCS union, Care 4 Calais and Detention Action, Duncan Lewis has a long track record of bringing challenges against government immigration measures.

DETENTION ACTION

PUBLIC AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES UNION

CARE4CALAIS

The charity is currently embroiled in a Charity Commission inquiry over ‘serious governance concerns’.

ASYLUM AID

Among her achievements, Doughty Street Chambers’ website lists her as having been junior counsel in ‘two of the leading challenges to the legal aid cuts’.

Despite the last-ditch legal challenge a Rwandan government source, speaking to ITV, insisted they remained ‘undeterred’ and ‘committed to making the partnership work’.

Meanwhile, Ms Patel issued a strongly-worded rebuttal of the Strasbourg judge’s ruling, saying she was disappointed the flight to Rwanda was not able to leave but would not be ‘deterred from doing the right thing’.

Both the airline and the Home Office are yet to comment on the latest reports.

On Tuesday the ECHR dramatically ruled that a 54-year-old Iraqi man, understood to have travelled to the UK by boat in May and who may also have been tortured in the past, would not be leaving Britain’s shores on Tuesday evening as planned.

The court said it was effectively barring the man, identified only as KN, from being sent to Rwanda under its rules which apply when there is an ‘imminent risk of irreparable harm’.

It added that the UK Government must not remove KN until three weeks after a full judicial review by the UK High Court has taken place into the legality of the Rwanda policy.

The ruling effectively overturned a series of decisions by British courts – including the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court – that had allowed the Rwanda flight to go ahead.

Later, a group of protesters gathered outside Colnbrook Detention Centre in Heathrow and lay on the ground in an effort to halt the flight.

Speaking as the flight was grounded, refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said: ‘Whilst we are relieved to hear the flight to Rwanda did not take off as planned tonight it is clear that the Government remain determined to press on with this deal.

‘The fact that the final flight could not take off is indicative of the inhumanity of the plan and the Government’s complete refusal to see the face behind the case.’

As the complex series of last-minute legal wrangles unfolded, hundreds of migrants crossed the Channel on small boats yesterday.