The atmosphere got very tense very quickly at the Home Affairs Committee as Home Office permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft and his second Simon Ridley dodged questions on Rwanda. The top civil servants refused to clearly answer queries on whether any more money had been sent to the Rwandan government, how many Rwandans will be sent to the UK, and migrant backlong numbers. The civil servants were more than happy to fob off key questions to ministers…

Committee chairman Diana Johnson said it was “really disrespectful to this committee that you don’t come prepared for questions” after Ridley failed to produce figures on the migrant backlog. Lee Anderson was so exasperated with the non-answers, he gave up: “That’s me done chair, I can’t ask any more questions“. Like getting blood from a stone…