THE first flight to Rwanda WILL take off tonight even if just a handful of migrants are on board, Liz Truss has insisted.
And the Foreign Secretary warned that any illegal asylum seekers who escaped this trip will just be on the next plane.
She stared down the leftie lawyers trying to frustrate Boris Johnson’s flagship plan to deter perilous Channel crossings.
Campaigners are hoping to empty the plane despite yesterday’s court ruling that the flight can go ahead.
As little as seven migrants are now due to be deported, and that number could even be whittled down more.
But defiant Ms Truss said: “There will be people on the flight and if they are not on this flight they will be on the next flight.”
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The charter plane to the small African nation will reportedly cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Asked if it was value for money, the Foreign Secretary said “the really important thing is we establish the principle and we start to break the business model of these appalling people traffickers who are trading in misery.”
Boris Johnson has vowed to press on with his controversial plan, insisting it is vital to curb Channel crossings in rickety boats.
But the PM said the scheme was suffering “teething problems” caused by left-wing lawyers and charities.
Today the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and 23 bishops wrote an open letter to The Times calling it an “immoral policy that shames Britain”.
Ms Truss hit back today: “I don’t agree with that, the people who are immoral in this case are the people traffickers trading in human misery.
“Those people need to suggest an alternative policy that will work. Our policy is completely legal, it’s completely moral.”
