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MIGRANTS

Destination unknown as Rwanda plan buffeted by courts and critics

The plane for asylum seekers arriving at MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire
The plane for asylum seekers arriving at MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire
GUILHEM BAKER FOR THE TIMES

“Dial up the substance,” Mr Justice Swift, the High Court judge, told the lead counsel for campaigners trying to halt the first flight removing migrants to Rwanda.

The intervention, barely an hour into the first court hearing on whether last night’s flight should be allowed to leave, was the first sign that campaigners were going to fail in their attempts to get an injunction in the British courts on all flights to the African country.

It may have taken until 6.30pm on Friday to announce the verdict, but it would prove the decisive moment in the dispute about the government’s contentious policy and enabled Priti Patel, the home secretary, to overcome her first legal hurdle.

European judges block migrant deportation flight

However, Patel and her team were not celebrating, having been