The Refugee Minister said there was "no possibility" of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda only eight days before the cruel scheme was unveiled.
Lord Harrington, who heads up the Ukrainian refugee scheme, was astonished by questions last week about the prospect of "offshoring" asylum seekers in the east African country.
Home Secretary Priti Patel is expected to sign the deal on a visit to Rwanda today, meaning desperate people seeking sanctuary in the UK would be flown 5,000 miles for processing.
