The Supreme Court rules against Britain’s Rwanda plan. What now?

IT WOULD NEVER have “stopped the boats”. But the Supreme Court’s ruling on November 15th that the government’s plan to fly was unlawful is still a hefty blow to Rishi Sunak. The prime minister has pledged to tackle the problem of crossing the English Channel in small boats. The court’s decision puts a big hole in the Illegal Migration Act, which allows for asylum-seekers who have entered Britain via another safe country to be detained and deported.The prime minister is not giving up. Shortly after Britain’s highest court ruled unanimously against the scheme on the ground that Rwanda was an unsafe destination for asylum-seekers, Mr Sunak said he would pass an “emergency” law asserting that it was in fact safe. He also said that he would not allow a “foreign court” to block the scheme. Tough talk may cheer hardliners, but it is hard to see how any planes will take off for Kigali soon.