SUELLA Braverman came out swinging against Rishi Sunak last night, arguing no Rwanda flights will take off before next year's showdown general election.
The ousted ex-Home Secretary tore apart the PM's plan B for deportation flights.
Writing in The Telegraph she said proposals to strike a new treaty with Rwanda in order to alleviate the concerns of Supreme Court judges won't solve the "fundamental issues" with the scheme.
It's expected a general election will take place in October next year.
Ms Braverman welcomed Mr Sunak's desire to "introduce emergency legislation" but added that for this to happen "parliament needs to amend the Illegal Migration Act" .
The ex-Home Secretary announced her own alternative plan B for Rwanda – a five point proposal to get flights off the tarmac.
First, the Bill must address the Supreme Court's concerns about Rwanda being unsafe.
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Second, it must contain a clause legislating for flights to take off before the next election.
Third, those arriving illegally must be removed in a matter of days rather than months.
Fourth, legal challenges to detention must be excluded to avoid burdening the courts.
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Finally, the Bill should be introduced before Christmas and Parliament should be recalled to debate over the festive season.
Ms Braverman said: "Now is not the time to waste energy on a post-mortem of how we got here.
"What matters for those of us who believe in effective immigration control is how to move forward.
"This requires honesty.
"There is no longer any chance of stopping the boats within the current legal framework.
"Having committed to emergency legislation, the Prime Minister must now give Parliamentarians a clear choice: to either properly control illegal migration, or explain to the British people why they are powerless under international law and must simply accept ever greater numbers of illegal arrivals on these shores."
This morning Transport Secretary Mark Harper said ministers are “shooting” for the first Rwanda flights to take off next spring.
He told Sky News: “We are still shooting and have the ambition to deliver those flights in the spring as planned and we think that delivering this new treaty and changing domestic legislation will enable us to do so.”
If no flights take off before the election many will view Mr Sunak as having failed in his major leadership pledge to stop the boats.
Ms Braverman's intervention comes as her successor James Cleverly yesterday insisted a fresh Rwanda treaty will be done “in days”.
The new Home Secretary said he was “absolutely determined” to get flights off before the next election despite the Supreme Court tearing the plan to shreds.
He also said he did not “recognise” claims that he once privately branded the migration policy as “bats***”.
He said the treaty – which will ensure no asylum seeker can be deported from Rwanda to a potentially unsafe place – will be revealed within a “matter of days”.
But there are fears even once ratified by MPs it will get bunged up in the Lords and the courts once again – putting paid to the PM’s hopes of getting flights by the spring.
Former Supreme Court Justice Lord Sumption criticised the move to have a second crack as “constitutionally extraordinary”.
Mr Sunak yesterday admitted: “My patience has run thin as has the country’s” — after his Rwanda deportation scheme was blown up by the Supreme Court.
But he faced a massive Tory backlash and was warned his leadership is now on the line.
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