How the government that promised to ‘stop the boats’ has lost control of its immigration policy

The Court of Appeal ruling is a devastating blow to the government’s policy to deter small boat crossings, but the legal battles don’t end here, writes Lizzie Dearden

The ruling throws the prime minister’s vow to ‘stop the boats’ into further doubt (PA)

The government has lost the latest stage of the long-running legal battle over the £140m Rwanda deal, in a devastating blow to Rishi Sunak’s vow to “stop the boats”.

When the agreement was signed in April 2022, ministers claimed it would “deter” crossings, but the record numbers that followed last summer forced them to back-pedal and claim the effect would not be seen until flights to Rwanda started.

They have not, and now will not until a final showdown at the Supreme Court gives an absolute ruling on whether Rwanda is not a safe country to receive asylum seekers forcibly deported from the UK.