A Tory minister was accused of “incredible spin” on live TV after he claimed the government had actually “won” the Rwanda scheme court case it comprehensively lost.
Robert Jenrick made the remarkable comment on the BBC’s Newsnight.
Supreme Court judges unanimously agreed that the policy - which would see asylum seekers deported to Rwanda - was unlawful because there was a risk of them being sent back to the country they originally fled from.
The ruling was a hammer blow to Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats” carrying migrants across the English Channel.
But Jenrick, the immigration minister, insisted that one part of the judgment stating that migrants could be sent to third countries meant the government had, in fact, emerged triumphant.
He said: “We have won on the most important question of all, which is the principal which is a country such as the United Kingdom can work with another partner such as Rwanda to send asylum seekers there.
“There’s just a question now about whether or not we have sufficient assurances that that country won’t send people against their will back to their country of origin.”
Presenter Victoria Derbyshire told him: “Mr Jenrick, forgive me, that is incredible spin. You have not won on the main principal, you have lost. All five justices ruled it was unlawful because it was not safe to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
“That is a demolition of your Rwanda policy.”
The prime minister was last night forced to deny his policy was a “shambles” as he announced plans to agree a new treaty with Rwanda and introduce emergency legislation to address the Supreme Court’s concerns.
He said: “I will not allow a foreign court to block these flights. If the Strasbourg Court chooses to intervene against the express wishes of parliament I am prepared to do what necessary to get flights off.”