Rishi Sunak has been left humiliated after he admitted flights carrying asylum seekers to Rwanda will not take off in the spring after all.
The prime minister claimed as recently as two weeks ago that the government was still on track to deport migrants to Africa within that timeframe.
But at a Downing Street press conference this morning, Sunak said he now “expects” the first flights to take off in 10-12 weeks.
That means the earliest they will get into the air will be July 1.
Sunak’s climbdown came as the House of Lords prepares to once again block his flagship Safety of Rwanda Bill later tonight.
MPs are expected to overturn two amendments to the legislation which were passed by peers last week.
The “emergency legislation” - which Sunak unveiled last November - will then return to the Lords in the latest round of parliamentary “ping-pong”.
Peers are then expected to vote through more changes to the bill, meaning it may not pass until the early hours of tomorrow morning.
At this morning’s press conference, Sunak said “enough is enough” and that MPs will vote through the night on order to pass the bill, which he says is a necessary part of his plan to stop the small boats carrying migrants across the Channel.
He said: “No ifs, no buts, these flights are going to Rwanda.
“We are going to deliver this indispensable deterrent so that we finally break the business model of the criminal gangs and save lives.”
The PM added: “The first flight will leave in 10 to 12 weeks. Now of course that is later than we wanted.
“But we have always been clear that processing will take time and if Labour peers had not spent weeks holding up the bill in the House of Lords to try to block these flights altogether, we would have begun this process weeks ago.”
Sunak also revealed that the government has booked commercial airlines to fly migrants to Rwanda, and that an unnamed airfield has been put “on standby”.
He said: “We have 500 highly trained individuals ready to escort illegal migrants all the way to Rwanda, with 300 more trained in the coming weeks.
“This is one of the most complex operational endeavours the Home Office has carried out.
“But we are ready, plans are in place - and these flights will go come what may.”
Many of those facing deportation are expected to appeal the decision to remove them from the UK, but the PM insisted “no foreign court will stop us from getting flights off”.
Sunak also insisted there would be “a regular rhythm of multiple flights every month over the summer and beyond until the boats are stopped”.