A young man from Eritrea has manoeuvred his small boat straight through the government’s “one in, one out” migration agreement with France, with a legal plea that could sink the whole policy. So far, two flights intended to carry the first deportees this week have carried none.
The decision of a High Court judge to grant the unnamed 25-year-old time to make his case against deportation undoubtedly inflicts a huge blow on the agreement negotiated by Yvette Cooper, then the home secretary, with her French counterpart back in July. A large part of the rationale for that agreement was to exclude such appeals and the resulting delays in removing those found ineligible to stay.
