On Wednesday five UK Supreme Court judges unanimously agreed with the Court of Appeal ruling that the policy was unlawful in its present state.
The home secretary said the Supreme Court ruling was based on facts which were 15 months out of date.
‘We Anticipated This Judgment’
He said the government had a plan to address the Supreme Court’s concerns and added, “We anticipated this judgment as a possible result and for the last few months have been working on a plan to provide the certainty that the court demands.”Mr. Cleverly said, “We have been working with Rwanda to build capacity and amend agreements with Rwanda to make clear that those sent there cannot be sent to another country than the UK.”
He said the government intended to upgrade the agreement one of his predecessors, Priti Patel, agreed with the Rwandan government in April 2022, to a treaty as soon as practicable.
“That will make it absolutely clear to our courts and to Strasbourg that the risks laid out by the court today have been responded to, will be consistent with international law and ensure that Parliament is able to scrutinise it,” Mr. Cleverly added.
The home secretary reiterated, “We have a plan to deliver the Rwanda deal and we will do whatever it takes to stop the boats. Illegal immigration is a huge global challenge and that challenge is growing.”
But the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the Rwanda policy was a “complete failure” and should be scrapped.
Labour Says Cleverly has Inherited a ‘Mess’
Ms. Cooper said: “What a mess he has inherited. The court conclusions today are damning. It exposes the complete failure of the prime minister’s flagship Rwanda policy, exposes a complete failure of the prime minister’s judgment in making it the central part of his policy, and the complete failure of the Conservatives to get the most basic grip of their boats and asylum chaos.”She said: “The court outlined the catalogue of problems with the policy, but ministers knew all about them. When it was first announced 18 months ago, I raised the problems with the Israel-Rwanda deal. They were warned many times about failures and weaknesses in the Rwanda asylum system but they just pressed on.”
Ms. Cooper said £140 million of taxpayers’ money had been “wasted” on the Rwanda agreement, money which was not refundable.
Mr. Cleverly’s predecessor, Suella Braverman, wrote a letter to the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, on Tuesday in which she was heavily critical of him and accused him of not having a “credible Plan B” in the event the Supreme Court ruled against the government on the Rwanda policy.
Ms. Braverman wrote: “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.'”
But Downing Street has brushed aside Ms. Braverman’s comments and a spokesman for the prime minister said he had spoken to Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame on Wednesday morning in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.
The Downing Street spokesman said, “He thanked President Kagame for his government’s work over the last 15 months and the extra assurances we have already agreed as they said they would continue to work together to address the court’s concerns.”
“Both leaders reiterated their firm commitment to making our migration partnership work and agreed to take the necessary steps to ensure this is a robust and lawful policy, and to stop the boats as soon as possible,” he added.
