MPs Respond To Rwanda Bill Being Ruled 'Unlawful' By Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has officially ruled the UK government's Rwanda Policy 'unlawful', making the newly approved Illegal Migration Act futile without somewhere to send undocumented migrants.

Lord Reed, President of the Supreme Court, noted that there was a "real risk" that asylum seekers could face further deportations back to their home countries after arriving in Rwanda.

Labour Leader Keir Starmer responded to the 'unlawful' ruling by calling the Rwanda Bill a "ridiculous, pathetic spectacle" and urged the government to drop the plan altogether.

Labour's Shadow Secretary also criticised the government for their "complete failure", noting that the Conservative Party had spent £140m of taxpayers' money on the policy.

That is "money we can't get back now", she said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ignored such criticisms this morning as he told the House of Commons that the Conservative Party will not give up on the deportation plan.

Tory Party Deputy Chairman Lee Anderson told the government to "ignore the laws" and to "just put the planes in the air now and send them to Rwanda".

Although the British public has slammed Sunak for repeatedly pushing for the unlawful policy, Anderson added: "I think the British people have been very patient, I've been very patient, and now they're demanding action. And this has sort of forced our hand a little bit now."

"It's time for the government to show real leadership and send them back, same day," he said.

In June this year, the Court of Appeal ruled that the High Court's claim that Rwanda was a safe third country for migrants was unlawful and should be reserved.

The Rwanda Policy was originally drawn up by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson as part of an initial £140 million deal.

While seeking asylum is not illegal, the bill sets out to deport all undocumented asylum seekers, specifically those who have arrived in the UK on unauthorised boats via the English Channel, to Rwanda.

Raza Hussain, who represented the asylum seekers who were fighting the policy, criticised the UK government for putting migrants in danger of "absolute repression" in an "authoritarian, one-party state".

On the first day of the Supreme Court Hearing, Hussain said to the judges: "Rwanda's asylum system is woefully deficient and marked by acute unfairness. The secretary of state [Suella Braverman] has an uphill task in seeking to defend Rwanda's asylum system."

Speaking of the former Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, Hussain added: "She does not dispute the state of the Rwandan asylum system significantly but rather seeks to ignore it."

In a letter to Sunak, following her sacking, Braverman criticised Sunak for having an unprepared response to the current migrant crisis.

Braverman wrote: "If we lose in the Supreme Court, an outcome that I have consistently argued we must be prepared for, you will have wasted a year and an Act of Parliament, only to arrive back at square one."

"Worse than this, your magical thinking - believing that you can will your way through this without upsetting polite opinion – has meant you have failed to prepare any sort of credible Plan B," the former Home Secretary added.

One of the asylum seekers that was facing the forced deportation to Rwanda, told reporters that he was "relieved" by the decision.

Having arrived in the UK from his war-torn home in the Middle East 18 months ago, the young man added: "I feel relieved. The situation has changed, and I hope the next stage is going to be more positive – things are going to get better."

"I thank them from the bottom of my heart. It's the right decision to make, and they treated us with humanity," he said.