Lee Anderson has been slapped down by a senior cabinet minister after he urged the government to break the law by deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The Tory deputy chairman hit out after the Supreme Court ruled that the government’s flagship immigration policy was unlawful.
Speaking following a meeting of right-wing Tory MPs, he said: “We should just get the planes in the air right now and send them Rwanda.
“People are fed up in this country. They’re fed up of being taken for a ride and paying their taxes to people who have no right to be here and are criminals.
“The government need to show our leadership an send them back.
He added: “I think we should ignore the law and send them back same day.”
But justice secretary Alex Chalk made it clear that the government respected the court’s ruling.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter) he said: “Respecting the rule of law means respecting the impartial judgments of our independent courts.
“Judges apply the law without fear or favour - a longstanding principle of our democratic constitution.”
He added that despite the ruling, ministers were still committed to stopping small boats carrying asylum seekers across the English Channel.
“We will continue to work to deliver on this promise for the British people,” he said.
Rishi Sunak has said the government is re-working its agreement with Rwanda in order to make it legally compliant, but is under intense pressure from Tory MPs to bring in an emergency law preventing the European Convention on Human Rights and the Refugee Convention from blocking the policy