Why Keir Starmer has opened up clear blue water with the Tories over their Rwanda deportation plan

A flight is yet to take off for Rwanda, the policy has been ruled unlawful, and Keir Starmer has promised to axe it if Labour wins power

Out of Africa: Labour leader Keir Starmer and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper have said they will scrap the policy (PA Wire)

A year and a half after Boris Johnson and the then home secretary, Priti Patel, unveiled their Rwanda deportation plan, the flagship immigration scheme hangs in the balance.

It has been deemed unlawful in the Court of Appeal, a flight is yet to take off for the country’s capital Kigali, and Sir Keir Starmer has promised to axe the plan if Labour wins power.

His promise, in an interview with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, is the strongest indication yet that Labour will junk the policy if the party wins the election.