Home Secretary Suella Braverman says it would be her dream to send a flight of Channel migrants to Rwanda by CHRISTMAS and outlines her 'ultimate goal' of cutting immigration into the UK to tens of thousands

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Home Secretary Suella Braverman revealed today her 'dream' would be to have the first plane-load of failed migrants send to Rwanda by Christmas.

The senior Cabinet minister outlined her homes that the £120million scheme would overcome legal hurdles this year as she spoke at Conservative Party Conference.

She also told an audience in Birmingham that her ultimate goal was to reduce net migration to 'tens of thousands'.

This was a goal of the David Cameron government, but one it completely failed to score.

However she said that both measures would take time to implement due to the legal hurdles they face.

Speaking to the Choppers Politics podcast the Home Secretary said: 'In the 90s it was in the tens of thousands under Mrs Thatcher, net migration, and David Cameron famously said tens of thousands, no ifs no buts.

'So that would be my ultimate aspiration but we've got to take it slowly and we've got to go incrementally.

'I'm not going to commit to a number. I think we have got to definitely substantially reduce the number of students, the number of work visas and in particular the number of dependents on those sorts of visas.'

It came as her predecessor as home secretary, Priti Patel, defended the Rwanda deportations. She told a conference fringe event it was an 'oven-ready plan' to be finished and the 'courts of Europe have to realise the mistake they made'.

She and former prime minister Boris Johnson unveiled the  five-year deal with Rwanda earlier this year. 

But no flights have even left the ground yet after a series of legal challenges in the European and UK courts. Liz Truss has vowed to continue with the policy and could even expand it to other countries.

The senior Cabinet minister outlined her homes that the £120million scheme would overcome legal hurdles this year as she spoke at Conservative Party Conference. 

It came as her predecessor as home secretary, Priti Patel, defended the Rwanda deportations. She told a conference fringe event it was an 'oven-ready plan' to be finished and the 'courts of Europe have to realise the mistake they made'.

More than 33,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year, official government figures revealed yesterday.

Ms Patel used a speech at a conference fringe event to hail her Rwanda migration deal as she noted how 'every leadership candidate' backed her plan in the Tory contest this summer.

'I overcame the immediate challenges in our courts - many people said that would be impossible but I made it possible,' she said.

'And, of course, it was great achievement but I accept it was simply not enough.

'Because it was the European court, to their discredit, that stood in the way of the policy and stood once again in the way of the British people.

'But the hard work is done and - as Boris would say - we have an oven-ready plan to finish.

'With widespread support for this policy across the country, the courts of Europe have to realise the mistake they made in standing in its way.

'And the Government must be robust in doing everything it takes to get this policy fully implemented and those flights to Rwanda take off.'

Asked after her speech whether the Rwanda policy would prove value for money, Ms Patel said: 'Absolutely it will be cost-effective because of the deterrence factor.'

She noted how housing asylum seekers and refugees in Britain cost £5million a day.

'The foundations are in place and it's absolutely imperative - there's a court case going on right now - the Government carries on with the fantastic legal case they've got, and they've got a great case, that they carry on with the implementation of that policy and they get that flight to Rwanda.'

Ms Braverman this afternoon announced plans for a new blanket ban on Channel migrants and anyone else entering the UK illegally from claiming asylum.

The new Home Secretary sought to stamp authority on a key policy area as the number of people crossing in small boats reaches record levels. 

She promised to allow 'the kind of immigration that grows our economy' but 'end abuse of the rules' as she addresses activists at the Conservative Party conference.

She will pledge to step up efforts to stem the flow of people risking their lives to cross the English Channel.

This includes working to increase the level of interceptions carried out by the French, providing further British support and co-operation to tackle the criminal gangs responsible, and making use of the powers in the Nationality and Borders Act to prosecute those who enter the UK illegally.

According to the Times, she will set out proposals for a bill on illegal immigration that goes further than existing legislation, the report said, adding that the law is designed to create a blanket ban on anyone who enters the UK illegally, including by small boat across the Channel, from claiming refuge. 

More than 33,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year, official government figures revealed yesterday.

Data released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said 33,001 people have been intercepted making the dangerous journey across the 21-mile Dover Straits in 2022.

A total of 7,961 of those migrants arrived in September alone and this figure is expected to increase as a further 400 people crossed the Channel on Monday.

At least two Border Force vessels could be seen escorting dozens of migrants into Dover, Kent in the early hours of this morning - after battling cold and windy conditions at sea.

The migrants, which included young children, wore blankets around their shoulders as they were led along the gangway to the dockside at a former jetfoil terminal, out of sight from the public.

With the Government's policy on sending asylum seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda being challenged in the courts, Ms Braverman will commit to looking at new powers.

She will set out her intention to ensure that the UK's policy on illegal immigration cannot be derailed by modern slavery laws, the Human Rights Act or the European Court of Human Rights.

Ms Braverman will tell the conference in Birmingham: 'It's right that we extend the hand of friendship to those in genuine need.

'This country has always done so. It did so for my father in the 1960s as a young man from Kenya. We have now welcomed hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Syria, Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

'At the same time we should use our newfound control to deliver the kind of immigration that grows our economy, for example that helps projects that have stalled or builds relationships with our friends and allies.

'Parts of the system aren't delivering. We need to end abuse of the rules and cut down on those numbers that aren't meeting the needs of our economy.'