Rishi Sunak Announces Airfield Prepared and Flights Scheduled for Deportations to Rwanda

The prime minister has said the first deportation flights to Rwanda will leave “in 10 to 12 weeks”, hours before MPs are due to vote on his emergency legislation.

Rishi Sunak said teams across the government were “working flat out to deliver this genuine game changer,” with an airfield on standby and booked commercial charter planes to get the first flights off to the African nation.

“No ifs, no buts; these flights are going to Rwanda,” the prime minister vowed.

Mr Sunak was speaking at a press conference in Downing Street just hours before MPs and peers vote on his emergency legislation, possibly well into the evening.

The controversial bill returns to the Commons following several rounds of parliamentary ping-pong, which has seen the Lords express their opposition to the proposals through a series of amendments the prime minister does not accept.

Politics latest: Rwanda deportations will start ‘come what may’

Mr Sunak vowed last week that today would be the day the bill finally got through parliament, telling reporters there would be “no more prevarication, no more delay”.

He repeated that assertion today, telling journalists: “Enough is enough”, adding: “Parliament will sit there tonight and vote no matter how late it goes.”

The prime minister described his plan, which will see asylum seekers who arrive in the UK via irregular means sent to Rwanda instead, as an “indispensable deterrent” that removes the incentive for people to make the dangerous Channel crossing.

He declined to give operational details due to the “loud minority of people who will do absolutely anything and everything to disrupt this policy from succeeding” but promised there would be a “regular rhythm” of “multiple flights a month through the summer and beyond.”.

After promising that the first flight would take off in 10 to 12 weeks, which he said was later than he would have liked, he took aim at the Labour Party, whom he accused of blocking the bill in the Lords with their series of amendments.

Asked by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby whether the bill’s likely passage would be a “moment of success” for him, Mr. Sunak replied, “Success is when the boats have been stopped. That’s what the country expects; that’s what the government and I are committed to delivering.”

While he refused to go into “sensitive” operations details, the prime minister did outline a number of measures the government was taking to prepare for the first flights to take off.

He said there were now 2,200 detention spaces and that 200 dedicated caseworkers had been trained to process claims quickly.

Around 25 courtrooms have been made available, and 150 judges will provide 5,000 sitting days, he added.

Mr. Sunak also said there were 500 “highly trained individuals ready to escort illegal migrants all the way to Rwanda, with 300 more trained in the coming week.”.