The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that the current Rwanda plan is unlawful. Lord Reed, Supreme Court President, delivered the ruling which dismissed the government’s case and ruled in favour of June’s Court of Appeal ruling. The court was considering whether Rwanda is a “safe third country” for migrants to be sent to. Braverman said in her letter yesterday that Number 10 had no “Plan B“, though several options have been mooted.

UPDATE: Sunak has released a statement and planned a press conference for 4:45 p.m.

Read Sunak’s response below:

“We have seen today’s judgment and will now consider next steps.

This was not the outcome we wanted, but we have spent the last few months planning for all eventualities and we remain completely committed to stopping the boats.

Crucially, the Supreme Court – like the Court of Appeal and the High Court before it – has confirmed that the principle of sending illegal migrants to a safe third country for processing is lawful. This confirms the Government’s clear view from the outset.

Illegal migration destroys lives and costs British taxpayers millions of pounds a year. We need to end it and we will do whatever it takes to do so.

Because when people know that if they come here illegally, they won’t get to stay then they will stop coming altogether, and we will stop the boats.“