PLANE WRONG
Patel slammed over new flight to Rwanda plan
A SECOND deportation flight to Rwanda will be attempted in weeks despite the farce which grounded the first jet.
Campaigners urged Priti Patel to wait for a crunch legal ruling before launching fresh bids to send Channel migrants 4,000 miles to east Africa.
But the Home Secretary vowed to charter more planes, risking an estimated £500,000 in taxpayers’ money per jet grounded by the courts.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper branded the Rwanda policy “Government by gimmick” and a “shambles putting our country to shame”.
Ms Cooper said: “This is unworkable, unethical and won’t stop the criminal gangs.” She also accused Ms Patel of splashing “half a million pounds chartering a plane she never expected to fly”.
There were fiery scenes in the Commons as MPs were updated on the fiasco that saw a handful of migrants spared just minutes before a Boeing 767-35D was due to take off from Boscombe Down military airfield in Wiltshire. The flight was scrapped after a legal ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.
Ms Patel told MPs: “This Government will not be deterred from doing the right thing. We will not be put off by the inevitable legal last-minute challenges.”
A Whitehall source said a new deportation flight could take off for Kigali within weeks – before a key ruling over the policy.
Human rights lawyer Frances Swaine, who represents a man facing deportation to Rwanda, urged the Government to wait until a judicial review ruling due next month.
But the source hit back: “There’s nothing in the European Court letter that says you can’t continue to operate a flight.”
Notices warning migrants of impending removal are due to be sent before the end of the month. The source indicated more asylum seekers would be told than there were seats on the plane because the Government was braced for courts to block deportations. Meanwhile, No10 refused to rule out quitting the Strasbourgbased ECHR.
Boris Johnson’s spokesman said they would do “whatever it takes” to ensure flights to Rwanda go ahead. Asked if the Government could quit the ECHR, he added: “We’re keeping all options on the table.” But the Whitehall source said: “The priority will be getting to the judicial review stage.” ben.glaze@mirror.co.uk @benglaze