More than £1.3 million of taxpayers' money is spent defending 121 legal challenges to the government's Rwanda asylum plan

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More than £1.3million of taxpayers' money has been spent defending 121 different legal challenges against the Rwanda asylum deal, the Mail can disclose.

The astonishing sum covers the Government's legal costs since the first attempted charter flight last June.

It includes the cost of fighting judicial reviews brought by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) trade union, which represents Border Force staff, and pro-migrant charities, plus a host of cases brought by individual foreign nationals.

The sum would pay for 35 NHS nurses for a year on the average salary of £37,000 a year.

The overall legal bill will continue to rise because challenges against the Rwanda deal are still being pursued.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman speaks during a press conference in Kigali, Rwanda Saturday, March 18, 2023. Braverman's visit aimed at reinforcing the U.K. government's commitment to a controversial plan to deport some asylum-seekers to the country

British Home Secretary Suella Braverman visits Bwiza Riverside Houses in Kigali, Rwanda on March 18, 2023. Riverside developments are planned to accommodate asylum seekers

In December, High Court judges ruled the policy - which will see 'irregular' migrants such as Channel arrivals sent to Rwanda to claim asylum there rather than here - was lawful.

READ MORE: More than 5,000 migrants could have crossed the English Channel already this year - and dozens more made the journey today as smugglers take advantage of mild weather

 

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Lord Justice Lewis, sitting with Mr Justice Swift, said the plans did not amount to a breach of human rights laws or other international refugee agreements.

Their ruling even questioned whether the four groups had even been eligible to intervene.

The ruling said PCS members were 'not directly affected by the Rwanda policy in any sense relevant for the purposes of bringing a claim for judicial review'.

It found that two charities involved in the case - Detention Action and Care4Calais - did not have legal 'standing' to bring judicial reviews, and a separate challenge brought by Asylum Aid was 'unnecessary'.

However, a further challenge at the Court of Appeal has been launched with hearings due later this month.

It came as new details emerged of a plan to house 1,800 migrants aboard a ship moored at Birkenhead, Merseyside.

A vessel similar to the one already announced for Portland in Dorset could be moored at facilities operated by the port operators the Peel Group, according to reports.

There have also been suggestions that a disused ferry could be converted to house Channel migrants.

Ministers are this week preparing for a final showdown with rebel MPs over the new immigration Bill.

Up to 60 Tory backbenchers threatened to vote against the proposed measures before Easter unless ministers met a series of demands to introduce tougher measures against illegal immigration.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman, left, listens to Rwanda's Minister of Education Valentine Uwamariya, right, during a visit to Kepler university in the capital Kigali, Rwanda, 19 March

RNLI crew pick up migrants in an inflatable boat who were travelling across the English Channel, bound for Dover on the south coast of England

The Government is due to publish a series of amendments to the legislation later this week - some of which are likely to be aimed at placating the rebels.

The number of migrants to have crossed the Channel since the start of the year is likely to have topped 5,000 on Monday.

There had been 4,936 by Sunday but three further boats arrived at Dover on Monday with as-yet unconfirmed numbers aboard.

The running total is significantly below that seen at the same point last year, when it had reached 6,342, but Home Office forecasts suggest this year could beat last year's record 45,700 arrivals.

By the end of the year 85,000 migrants may have crossed the Channel under worst case scenarios, leaked documents suggested earlier this year.