Rwanda ruling: Supreme Court rules plan unlawful in blow to Sunak – live

Civil servants union the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) welcomed the ruling, but warned its campaign against the government’s “anti-refugee agenda” is “far from over”.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “It is not refugees that have driven down wages and starved public services of the resources they need – it is the fault of successive Tory governments that have overseen a sustained attack on living standards.

“The only way to protect human life and prevent people from drowning in the Channel is to give them safe passage, which we call on the government to adopt.”

Refugee charity Care4Calais has described the Supreme Court ruling as a “victory for humanity”.

Chief executive Steve Smith said: “This grubby, cash-for-people deal was always cruel and immoral but, most importantly, it is unlawful.

“Today’s judgement should bring this shameful mark on the UK’s history to a close. Never again should our Government seek to shirk our country’s responsibility to offer sanctuary to those caught up in horrors around the world.”

The Rwanda deal to deport asylum seekers has been ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court, in a major blow to Rishi Sunak’s flagship plan to cut immigration.

Flights will remain suspended after judges at the UK’s highest court concluded it is not a safe country to receive those claiming refuge.

It comes after the Court of Appeal ruled in June that sending anyone to Rwanda would be in breach of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as there was a “real risk” they could be returned to their home countries to face “persecution or other inhumane treatment”.

Britain’s former UK National Security Advisor Kim Darroch welcomed the ruling, saying the Rwanda plan was “unworkable in every sense”.

Lord Darroch, chairman of the Best for Britain campaign group, said: “The Prime Minister should reflect carefully on this judgement and resist calls from within his party to leave the ECHR which will do little to stop dangerous Channel crossings but which would undermine the Good Friday Agreement and put the UK alongside Russia and Belarus as the only European countries not party to the convention.”

Rishi Sunak’s flagship plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is in tatters after the Supreme Court ruled it is unlawful.

The UK’s highest court ruled on Wednesday that flights will not be able to go ahead in a blow to the prime minister’s key pledge to cut immigration to the UK.

The unanimous ruling by judges agreed with a Court of Appeal decision in June that found that Mr Sunak’s £140m deal was unlawful because of deficiencies in the Rwandan asylum system. The lower court found that sending anyone to Rwanda would be in breach of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as there was a “real risk” they could be returned to their home countries to face “persecution or other inhumane treatment”.

Holly Bancroft has the latest from the Supreme Court:

The government’s Rwanda policy is unlawful says the UK Supreme Court in a landmark judgement.

Watch live as the UK Supreme Court delivers its ruling on whether the government can go ahead with its controversial plan to deport migrants to Rwanda.

Rishi Sunak has already had some positive news this morning after inflation fell to 4.6 per cent, meaning his pledge to halve the rate at which prices are rising has been met.

The inflation rate when Mr Sunak made it the first of his five priorities was over 10 per cent, meaning he was hoping for a it to drop below 5 per cent.

Victory for ministers would represent a rare high-profile achievement for Rishi Sunak’s administration – and could even give sacked Suella Braverman something to crow about, says Sean O’Grady