officials have hired an aircraft hanger and mock fuselage so security staff can practise forcing Channel migrants onto flights to Rwanda, it was claimed today.
The facility will allow them to develop tactics to overcome situations including the use of violence, 'playing dead' and 'dirty protests' where deportees deliberately soil themselves to avoid getting on board.
The facility at an undisclosed location has been hired on a year-long lease, the Times reported, as Rishi Sunak gears up for a fight to get his Safety of Rwanda Bill into law over the head of Lords opposition.
Peers have claimed the flights are 'a step towards totalitarianism' and today the former leader of the Scottish Tories
cast doubt on whether anyone would be sent to Rwanda at all.
Ahead of the House of Lords debating the legislation, Baroness Ruth Davidson said there 'are dogs in the street that know' that deportation flights are 'probably never going to happen'.
The first battle will be on January 29 when peers are expected to debate the legislation. It could clear the Lords by the middle of March but if they dig their heels in they could delay it for months.
The facility at an undisclosed location has been hired on a year-long lease, the Times reported, as Rishi Sunak gears up for a fight to get his Safety of Rwanda Bill into law over the head of Lords opposition.
Ahead of the House of Lords debating the legislation, Baroness Ruth Davidson said there 'are dogs in the street that know' that deportation flights are 'probably never going to happen'.
yesterday warned the House of Lords to respect the 'will of the people' and drop threats to block the Bill.
Insisting the plan to deport Channel migrants to Africa was an urgent national priority, he called on and the Lords to 'do the right thing' and get behind it.
The Prime Minister said he was 'not messing around' in his efforts to get the scheme going after almost two years of delays in the courts and was 'fed up with the legal merry-go-round'.
The Safety of Rwanda Bill, which is designed to remove all remaining legal hurdles, cleared the Commons on Wednesday night after rebels abandoned attempts to toughen it up.
Some peers are now gearing up for a constitutional clash by delaying – or even blocking – the new law. A cry of 'shame' rang out in the Lords yesterday when the Bill was introduced and one peer even claimed the legislation was a 'step towards totalitarianism'.
In comments made to The Today Podcast and broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lady Davidson said: 'Let's have a debate about immigration, absolutely.
'Every sovereign nation should be in charge of who comes in; not everybody has a right to go to every country in the world - I completely get all of that.
But where is the balance in this, rather than some of the language that is being used, some of the knots that people are getting into?
'And this thing about putting people on planes to Rwanda. I mean, there are dogs in the street that know that, one, it is probably never going to happen.
'And two, if it does, it is going to be a number so small that it makes very little difference to the bottom line.'
A Home Office spokesman said: 'Since 2015, the government has had training facilities to ensure escorts can respond professionally to the challenges of removing people with no right to be in the UK.
This includes practical sessions so escorts have the skills they need to deal with different scenarios.
'As we ramp up removal activity we will continue to ensure new escorts have the training facilities necessary.'
