Call it the massacre of the not-so-innocents. A drive-by shooting that left almost everyone in government a casualty. Many had thought the supreme court would uphold Rishi Sunak’s appeal on his flagship Rwanda policy. The one thing he thought he might have something to boast about. Or at the very least that the court might deliver a nuanced verdict. One that left the government some room for manoeuvre.
Lord Reed, the top judge on the five-strong panel, had other ideas. He just about contained a smile. It’s such a perfect day. He was glad he spent it with you. There were no ifs, no buts. The Rwanda plan was a non-starter. Rwanda having a track record of killing refugees had made the court think there was something iffy about the UK deporting its refugees to Rwanda. Funny that. Nor should the UK think it could get round the judgment by leaving the European convention on human rights. The UK was already bound by other legal obligations.
