THE Supreme Court ruling on the government’s Rwanda scheme to deport people seeking asylum in the UK to the African nation is crucial for prime minister Rishi Sunak, said independent migration Think tank British Future.
The top court will deliver its ruling on Wednesday (15) on whether the government can go ahead with its plan.
“The prime minister has a lot riding on Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision. He has argued that Rwanda is how he will meet his pledge to ‘stop the boats’. Nobody can predict the outcome with any certainty. Some argue that the decision taking less time than anticipated – one month rather than two – makes it more likely the Court of Appeal decision against the Rwanda scheme is being upheld. That would be legally less complex than remaking it," said Sunder Katwala, director of British Future.
“If the government loses there will be loud calls, led by Suella Braverman and her allies, for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. But this week's reshuffle sends a strong signal that the prime minister does not agree."
According to Katwala, Sunak may send new foreign secretary David Cameron abroad to try to renegotiate the terms of the UK's participation.
"That is a way to explore what can be done within the UK's membership – but few would expect it to yield any rapid results before the general election," he said.
The Think tank has highlighted that if the government wins the case, proving the viability of the scheme will pose a more significant challenge.
"Rwanda’s asylum system can only take up to one per cent of those who have come to Britain this year: that is a major practical hurdle, on top of the arguments against the scheme in principle. So the government will have to acknowledge that most of those who have come to the UK this year will have to be admitted to the UK asylum system, so their claims can be heard – despite the political promises to bar them," Katwala added.
The government has suffered a number of major defeats in the Supreme Court in recent years, most notably when it found former prime minister Boris Johnson had acted illegally when he suspended parliament in 2019.
A former Hertfordshire officer resigned before his misconduct ruling
‘Former Hertfordshire police officer made racist slurs against Asians'
A FORMER Hertfordshire police officer made racist comments to colleagues on multiple occasions, a misconduct panel has found.
PC Oliver Gobey, who resigned as an officer on the morning of the misconduct hearing, directed racist comments at people of Asian descent on two separate occasions.
In the first incident, he directed a “racially motivated” comment at a police sergeant to suggest they had been recruited after 9/11 because they were Asian.
Gobey was immediately challenged by PC Wallace, an “experienced officer” who had been a tutor constable for twenty years.
In a second incident, Gobey was in a police vehicle in Hitchin town centre with three colleagues. A man of Asian descent and his friends approached the officers and spoke to Wallace. The man said he was from Birmingham and asked for recommendations on places to visit.
After the man had walked away, Gobey said: “Or you have come down here to escape the honour-based violence you have caused.”Gobey was again challenged by Wallace. Gobey denied making the racist comments, but the panel concluded on the balance of probabilities that both incidents had taken place.
The panel’s report said: “They were discriminatory comments and they were his own. They were unprovoked. No one encouraged him.”
The panel also concluded that Gobey “chose to lie” about a business interest. He repeatedly failed to submit a proper application to continue part-time work for a private ambulance service and voluntary work for St John Ambulance, but continued with the latter regardless.
He also told a supervisor his business interest application had been successful, when it had not been.
In a fourth incident, Gobey “deliberately typed in random numbers” when assigned to work in the Resource Management Unit (RMU).
His figures, which were found to be wrong, came after Gobey “gave the impression to his colleagues that the work in RMY was ‘beneath’ him”.
While working there, he was heard “swearing about the work”. He was “short-tempered and ‘snappy’.” The panel’s report said: “The compilation of the figures … were far from being a simple administrative matter.
“It was essential operational information required by senior officers to decide how scarce resources would be deployed in the coming days.”
The panel found all the allegations against Gobey to be proven on the balance of probabilities, and concluded that they amounted to “serious gross misconduct” that would have led to him being sacked without notice if he had not resigned. He has also been added to the College of Policing barred list.
(Local Democracy Reporting Service)