The Prime Minister’s “one in, one out” deal with France appears in tatters an Eritrean man won a last-minute High Court bid to temporarily block his deportation from the UK. The man, who legally cannot be named, was set to be flown out of the UK at 9am on Wednesday, but has been allowed to remain, after a judge granted him a “short period of interim relief”.
The man’s lawyers said the case “concerns a trafficking claim” and claimed he is vulnerable and faces a risk of “destitution” in France. The Home Office defended the case, saying that it was reasonable to expect the man, who alleges to have a gunshot wound, to claim asylum in France.
Mr Justice Sheldon said on Tuesday evening: “It seems to me there is a serious issue to be tried with respect to the trafficking claim and whether or not the Secretary of State has carried out her investigatory duties in a lawful manner.”
He said the arguments made in court did not demonstrate a “real risk” that the man would “suffer destitution if he was to be returned to France”.
However, the judge said the case “should come back to this court as soon as is reasonably practical in light of the further representations that the claimant … will make on his trafficking decision.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch issued a withering, four-word statement following the news of the block on the deportation. She said she told Labour ministers “we told you so”, while shadow home secretary Chris Philp called the returns scheme “another failed gimmick from this weak Government”.
Mr Philp added: “On Monday I told the new Home Secretary in Parliament that unless they disapply the Human Rights Act for immigration cases, their meagre returns deal would collapse in court.
“She refused to listen, and here is the predictable result.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed that the Government was “not telling the truth” about its immigration plans, adding: “Even if the policy worked, one in, one out, and with another one in, still means plus one for everyone that crosses the Channel.”
More than 30,000 people have crossed the Channel this year.
