Independent’s Geordie Greig says Afghan pilot campaign was driving ‘coach and horses’ through small boats policy

The Independent’s campaign to stop an Afghan pilot being deported to Rwanda was driving a “coach and horses” through the government’s small boats policy, says editor-in-chief Geordie Greig.

The hero air force lieutenant, who fled the Taliban and came to the UK on a small boat, has been granted asylum after a five-month-long Independent appeal.

Speaking to LBC, Mr Greig said: “The government [told] us at the highest level that it would never happen.

“They seem to be worried it was going to tip up their policy... It was going to ride a coach and horses through that.” Watch Mr Greig’s full interview above.