How Foreign Office tried to halt Rwanda flights according to leaked papers
Bombshell documents reveal civil servants wanted to remove Rwanda from a list of countries able to take illegal migrants from the UK.
Foreign Office mandarins tried to shoot down Rishi Sunak's Rwanda flights migrant deportation plan by having the African nation removed from a list of approved "offshore" countries.
The Prime Minister, who faces a crunch vote on his Safety of Rwanda Bill on Monday, has championed the policy as the key to tackling the small boats crisis in the Channel which has brought thousands of illegal migrants to these shores.
So far the Conservatives have had to battle legal challenges, amendments in the House of Lords. and outcry from human rights organisations and Labour over the plan.
But according to the Telegraph, startling leaked documents reveal Mr Sunak, who met with the Rwandan President earlier this month, was also facing hidden opposition from workers behind one of the Great Offices of State.
A Government memo seen by the newspaper reportedly shows civil servants wanted to remove Rwanda from a list of approved "offshore" countries for processing asylum seekers deported from Britain.
The department employees, who are meant to be apolitical, also warned the Rwanda flights could trigger "potentially significant" legal interventions under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
And further pouring cold water on the policy, the memo also made assertions Commonwealth partners could be angered by the deportations.
However, a senior Tory source told the Telegraph the leak showed Mr Sunak has known "the whole time" that the measures in his Bill "didn't go far enough".
They said: “These are bombshell revelations. The Government knew all along that ECHR rights would thwart the Rwanda scheme and yet ploughed on regardless. They’ve conned the public it would be fine.
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“The Prime Minister was then chancellor, he’s known this the whole time and he was warned repeatedly when he became PM that his measures didn’t go far enough.”
After meeting the Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Downing Street earlier this month Mr Sunak was still in a buoyant mood, saying he was "determined" to get the legislation through.
He said: "I'm committed to stopping the boats, we need to have a deterrent so that if people come here illegally, they can't stay, they'll be removed.
"That's why Rwanda is so important. That's why I'm determined to see it through. I'm confident that once the Bill is passed, we will be able to get the scheme up and running."
Tomorrow (Monday) MPs Mr Sunak will seek approval for the Rwanda Bill by forcing the House of Lords and Commons to sit until they agree to the plans. He blamed Labour peers for delays to his Rwanda Bill in its passage through Parliament.
The legislation, which aims to send some asylum seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda in order to deter people from crossing the English Channel in small boats, remains stuck in deadlock after peers again insisted on changes this week.
Mr Sunak vowed to "get this done on Monday" by getting parliamentarians to "sit there and vote" until it is done.
However, when asked to commit to a deadline for flights taking off to Rwanda, Mr Sunak refused to commit to spring being the time they would start.
